Sword and Shield
by Paragon Steven
Summary: He was frozen towards the end of The Great War, brought back to life to fight in the infamous Faunus War. Now Captain Steven Rogers must take on another task; mentoring an son of the famous Arc family. An Arc with a heart of gold, but has a dream that is paved with bloodshed and loss. To become a Hero of Justice is not for those with the faint of heart. {Slight Marvel AU}
1. Chapter 1

**This is a new story in the works. It's a crossover, but not a TRUE crossover. It only contains one character; and he's from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Please Enjoy!**

She knew that this child was going to be different. Something from the start said it would be, it was like a gut feeling, well more along the lines of 'instinct'. The child she had cradled in her arms was beautiful; beyond words could describe the emotions that were swirling around inside her. He was a miracle, a blessing, a godsend. Her husband was right there beside her. From the beginning he was there, always there, he was even spewing nonsense like: "I bet it's gonna be a boy this time! WATCH!" Of course being a pregnant woman and giving birth at the time, she screamed and hollered at the man, saying: "SHUT THE HELL UP, JOHN!" Or, "YOU DID THIS TO ME!" Or better yet, " IF I MAKE IT OUT OF THIS… SO HELP ME MOUNTY… I WILL KILL YOU!" He paled when he heard that. But once the screaming, the pushing, the blood and fluid were over, the doctors clinically wiped the baby down. Then wrapped it up in a blue blanket and handed it over to the mother of four. Well now five!

"Congratulations, Mrs. Arc. It's a healthy baby boy." The nurse quietly announced. The mother beamed like the sun, while the husband shed a manly tear. One single manly tear that is. The baby was silent, deadly silent. The father got onto his knees and thanked whatever god that was out there for this child. He stood up, bent down beside his loving wife and whispered tenderly to her,

"He's got your face," he stated, she hummed in response. The woman noticed that the boy's eyes were opened. Exposing to the world two shades of baby blues, a shade that was associated with one family, a family that had a long lineage of heros. She smiled and turned to her husband,

"He has your eyes, hon. He has an Arc's eyes." The husband looked deep into the pools that almost consumed him. They were adorable, pretty, and shined with something that he couldn't comprehend. He snorted a little bit,

"He's an Arc alright!" he exclaimed rather quietly. They laughed at the ball of joy in front of them, the child looked at them and blinked like an owl. Not knowing anything besides the fact that these two people were suppose to be his parents.

"What should we name him?" asked the mother. This was the moment of truth, the big reveal, the piece de resistance, he needed something good, something strong, handsome, sexy, and memorable. He cupped his chin and thought for a good minute. He snapped,

"How bout… Jaune?" He waited for the name to sink in. "Jaune Arc...it's short, and sweet, and rolls off the tongue." he explained. The baby made a cho..sound at that exact moment. They turned towards him, he smiled.

"He likes it. He really likes it." The mother said, she smiled at the child and poked his button nose softly.

"Ok then...We'll name him...Jaune. Jaune Arc." The verdict was announced. It was set in stone. The father wiggled a finger in the baby's face, and started making 'coo chi coo' noises. The baby laughed for the first time,

"He's got his father humor and hair!" he laughed, the wife rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Welcome to the world Jaune." she whispered.

"You're going to do great things my son." said the Father.

* * *

**6 Years Later**

The Arc library was a vast and expansive source of knowledge in the small village where Jaune grew up. They were basically the most well known Huntsmen family throughout that part of Remnant. The village wasn't so rowdy, more calm and peaceful than the bustling streets of Vale and less cruel as Signal.

In the depths of the library was Jaune. His nose between the pages of a big book. A book that was clearly too advanced for him to read, but he liked the pictures so why not? On one of the pages there was a man adorned in military armor, his suit had a strange assortment of red, white and blues.

His weapon of choice was merely a shield that matched his armor. There was a star in the middle of it and rings with reds and whites, there were also splotches of blood on his face and shield, and the people bellow him looked defeated and void of emotion. But not him. He was looking up at the enemy, ready, ever vigilant, standing up to the bad guys. Jaune's eyes lit up with awe and wonder. As a young boy, Jaune couldn't have understood the true meaning of the blood and the soldiers with thousand yard stares, it was the man. The man grabbed his attention.

"This guy's the real deal. He's a hero!" He slammed the book shut and ran toward the living room, his feet literally flying across the floor. He crossed a corner and neared the stairs, he did the childish thing to do and slid down on the railing. He continued his sprint towards the room where his dad was presently watching television, he slid on his feet and banked another corner. His socks were literally about to fly off his feet,

"Woah! DAD, DAD!" His father turned around and raised his aged eyebrow. He got up to his full height, broad and tall compared to his small son.

"What's up, Jaune! Slow down, kid you'll-" At that moment Jaune lost his balance and was heading straight for his father's legs. Luckily the Dad was quick enough to catch the boy in time. "Gotcha!" He scooped up the boy in a fluid motion.

John twirled and twirled around playfully and laughed along with his son. Then planted himself in the chair,

"What's up Jaune? What's gotten you so worked up?" he exclaimed. Jaune smiled and opened his book up to his Dad,

"Dad, look at this! This guy's a hero! A true hero!" He quickly flipped through the pages of the thick book. John recognized the writing and the cover, _'So he found that book.'_

* * *

Every since the boy was able to speak, John and his wife told countless stories to Jaune. About how their great grandfather fought in the war, or tales about knights slaying evil dragons and saving princesses, or Huntsmen doing impossible feats, and so on. Jaune was a rather rambunctious kid, so this in a way, was the only method for them to use to get their son to sleep. But he listened.

He listened quietly to the stories, and one night after finishing an advantageous tale of a group a samurais who've lost their honor; he said this.

"One day, I'm going to become of hero of Justice!" he declared to his mother. The lady smiled at her son, the look in his eyes said it all. But deep down she shook her head disapprovingly, _'If only you knew how dangerous that path would lead you, my son.'_ She leaned over to him and rubbed his blond hair, then kissed his forehead goodnight.

"I feel better now, knowing that my son dreams like that. But, if you choose this path then be ready, Jaune." She was speaking to him as an adult, and he could tell just by the look she was giving. He swallowed, but shook his head and raised his palm and clenched it like some sort of anime protagonist.

"I'll do it! I promise to be the best, mother!"

"Good, we'll talk about this when you're older, Jaune. But for now, goodnight." She got up and left the room.

* * *

"Who is this guy Dad?" he asked, the father licked his lips and started his story.

"He was a solider who fought alongside your great granddad in the War" he responded. Jaune's eyes grew wide,

"He fought with granddad?" he shouted. John nodded. Jaune looked back at the book and whistled,

"Yep. He almost singlehandedly won the war. If it wasn't for "The Battle at Signal," where he was frozen we might've won the War earlier than expected." John finished.

"He was frozen? Like, in ice?" questioned the boy.

"Yes. He was taking on a really big commander guy who was about to escape, but at the last minute the bad guy blew up the ship he was on. Thus sending our friend here into the icy depths." Jaune frowned at that, he wanted to meet this guy.

"So he's dead?" he sadly asked, John smiled.

"Nope." he suddenly jerked in his father's lap. A look of shock on his face.

"No way! He's still alive?" he shouted. John chuckled softly._ 'I knew he would say that.' _

"Yep. What happened is this: After the Great War, the Faunus had a war of their own too. You remember that, right?" he asked. Jaune nodded,

"Well, your granddad and I were actually traveling on 'official Huntsmen business' when we came across his body in the ice." Jaune's mouth made an O.

"So you guys thawed him out?" the boy was bouncing at this point.

"Yes. But Jaune, we used him." his voice got low and grave. The boy started to lose his energy,

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently,

"We used him to fight in the Faunus War. He wasn't too happy about his actions because personally he didn't feel that it was right to fight people like them." he said. Jaune frowned at his Dad, this wasn't like him. Weren't Arc's suppose to be the good guys?

"He treated them equally, but the higher ups told him to do horrible things. Granddad tried to convince them but they didn't listen. She he retired from being a Huntsmen." It was John's turn to frown. He hated this part of the story.

"What are 'higher ups'? asked Jaune.

"Basically people above Captain and stuff." He nodded,

"So like you?" He pointed,

"No, no." he responded in a hearty tone.

"I'm like a Captain. Like this guy here," he tapped the picture.

"Oh cool! Hey, what was the guy's name?" he asked.

"Steven Rogers, AKA The Captain." he made the name sound like a super hero's.

"Awesome! I want to meet this guy!" he opened his mouth and smiled in awe. But then frowned,

"Oh, he's probably super old, huh dad?" he turned just in time to hear his dad laugh.

"Haha! Nope. He's actually rather young!" Jaune gaped,

"No way!"

"Yes way!" the boy jumped off his dad's lap, and started hoping up and down.

"I SO want to meet him! He's so cool! His armor, his shield, everything!" John couldn't believe his eyes. He kneeled down and rubbed his son's hair,

"I promise, I'll get you to meet him Jaune. But promise me this," He put his hands on his shoulders a looked at his son seriously.

"Yes?"

"Keep up your school work and take care of your sisters and I'll bring him here, pinky promise." he flicked out his pinky, and so did Jaune.

"I promise!" and with that they both wrapped their fingers and shook.

* * *

**Jaune's 7th Birthday**

It was a nice Birthday, all his sisters were there singing 'Happy B-Day', Dad being awesome and funny too, and Mom who was recording it on her Scroll. Seven candles, Seven years being alive. He feels happy, content with just being with his family. Jaune wasn't really good at making friends, but his only friend Abraham (Or Abe) as he called him was currently beside him playfully punching his arm.

Abe was a small kid, black hair and green eyes. He was a shy boy, a boy that was the total opposite of Jaune. Who tries to be the center of attention and fails, Abe was attracted to Jaune because of his joyful and happy attitude. Unlike him, being a introvert. Merely seating beside him at lunch spoke volumes to Abe. Simply sharing food spoke words,

"Happy Birthday to ~youuuu!" they all said in a sing song voice. They clapped at the end of the song, Mom tapped the boy's shoulder,

"Make a wish Jaune!" John nodded,

"Yeah boyo! Make that wish and blow out those candles, so after we can have our cake!" he rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. Thus getting a light jab from the eldest sister.

"Ow."

Jaune closed his eyes and thought carefully, but nothing big came to mind. But then he remembered,

_'I wish to become a hero of justice.' _and with that he blew out the candles.

Everyone clapped at the end, people exchanged their presents and cake with ice cream was consumed.

He liked vanilla and lemon cake, so this was a god send.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

THUNK THUNK!

Everyone froze,

"Who could that be?" wondered Jaune. Mom and Dad exchanged looks of concern, while Abe and the sisters shrugged off the knock. Mom nodded at the door,

"I'll get it." announced John. Father walked over and reached for the knob, turned and opened the door.

Jaune squinted, he couldn't see anyone because his Dad was blocking the way. But he did see the action of a hug and arms around his dad's back. He raised an eyebrow and turned towards his mother. She went over to John and asked,

"John, who is-" she was cut off. It was him.

"No way! You're here!" she looked back at Jaune with wide eyes.

"Where's the Birthday boy?" asked the stranger. John smiled and turned towards Jaune,

"Hey Jaune, we got a present for you!" confused, the boy leaped off his chair and walked to his Dad. His heart was pounding with each step, questions kept popping into his mind until he made it to his Dad.

"Okay, what is it?" he asked curiously. John and his Wife moved out the way, revealing to Jaune a tall man, a man with broad muscles like his father, blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a leather coat and had a present with a blue bow on top, Jaune didn't understand, but something felt familiar about the man.

"This man is the Captain, Jaune. Steven Rogers, meet you're number one fan...Jaune Arc." he introduced, and at that moment Jaune dropped his bowl of ice cream. Luckily his mother was quick and caught the bowl, but he was in awe struck, the Captain, _the_ Captain showed up at his Birthday Party. The man kneeled down to his height and rubbed his hair,

"Never thought I'd have a fan." he smiled. Jaune was so happy at that moment, he almost felt like fainting on the spot. His smile was kind, and he was rather gentle, "It's you're 7th Birthday, so I got you this." He offered the present, but the boy didn't take it. He looked at the present then back at the man, and in one sudden motion flung himself into a hug. He hugged the man tight, his heart was beating so fast. His role model actually showed up to see him, celebrate with _him._

"Eh? Hey! I thought kids liked presents?" he comically asked. Jaune chuckled, for some reason he felt like crying, but the tears never came.

"This is soo cool." he whispered. He heard the man hum. A low rumble that vibrated his body, then in a moment he was picked up like a kid in a theme park.

"Up you go big man." he lifted, Jaune laughed,

"You feel like a big kid now huh?" he smiled at the Captain.

"Sure do." Steve laughed at that, he then was greeted inside and sat down at the table. Abe and the sisters were in shock, they knew who the man was, and truly didn't expect him to show up.

"Open your present, Jaune." asked Steve, the boy shook his head and swiftly grabbed the box. Then he gently undid the bow and lifted the top off, he peaked inside.

Within the box was a watch. He reached in and carefully picked up the chrome tinted device, it had digital setting on, but there was two buttons on each side. Jaune liked the design of the watch, he started to strap it to his wrist. It was super light, almost like a pencil.

"Press the two buttons." asked Steve, he shook his head and did what his was told. He clicked the button.

A vast blue interface sprung from the Watch, it displayed Remnant on a global scale, the time was off to the right and random lines of code were floating around the sphere. "WOAH!" he said, clearly excited about his gift.

"It's a secret project my friend Tony's been working on. It's state of the art design is top notch, it like a Swiss army knife on your wrist."

Jaune used his finger and swiped across the interface, a game pulled up. It was a gallery shooter type, he swiped again, the interweb was pulled up. Again and again until he came to a stop. A phone symbol was in front of him now,

"It's like the Scroll; in which you can call and read books and stuff." Jaune beamed at the device.

"Nice! Does anyone else have this yet?" he asked, Steve shook his head,

"Nope. This was specially designed for you, Jaune." he grinned, the boy smirked.

"Awesome." Steve leaned over a swiped back to the phone,

"Oh and Jaune, if you ever truly need my help you can just call me." he pointed to the first contact in the list. It read: 'Cap'

"You betcha!" The two laughed and enjoyed the rest of the party.

As the closing minutes of the party came, Jaune and Steve were talking about the stories of the War. All the people he saved, the bad guy's he's fought. It was like a kid in an candy store.

"Hey, Cap?" Jaune pulled on his jacket,

"What's up, bud?" he asked,

"In the future...when I'm big and strong...can you...teach me how to fight?" he asked nervously. The boy was shuffling from side the side, clearly this was a sore subject. Steve looked to the parents,

"Now Jaune, this is something you should ask your parents first." he pointed,

"It think it's a good idea, Steve." interjected John, this made his wife furrow her brows at him angrily. She sighed,

"Now why in the world would you want to learn how to fight, Jaune?" the boy got up and approached his mother.

"Because...I'm an Arc. The Arc are hero's, and I want to be like them. I don't want to a weakling, I hate getting pushed around. And I don't like bullies!" he basically shouted.

Steve smirked, _'I said the same thing.' _The mother signed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I don' know Jaune, this is dangerous stuff." She stopped and looked down, Jaune had a look of determination in his eyes. Passion and Justice all bunched up into one boy. She couldn't argue with the look. And it does pay to still be cute.

"Alright Jaune, but only when you're ten can you start training." The boy jumped up and down, and cheered.

"Thank you, thank you, Mom!" he ran up and hugged her legs. She smiled and rubbed his back.

"Just remember to be careful, and the talk we promised." he looked up and nodded.

"Alright!" he said in a understanding tone.

* * *

**AND BAM! 1st chapter completed! Guys, I could use some beta readers for this story. If anyone is willing then climb abroad! Also, fellow readers, should I classify this as an Crossover or should just keep it as a normal Fanfic? I'm so confused! What do you guys think?**


	2. It's Dangerous

** Chapter 2, It's dangerous.**

**3 Years later**

CRACK!

A punch connected to Jaune's jaw sending him hurling to the ground hard. Tears were on the edges of his eyelids at this point, things weren't suppose to be like this! The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth so he spat the blood onto the pavement. He hasn't learned anything about his aura, how to control, open it, channel it, nothing. He clenched his teeth until it hurt his jaw, the boy turned to his left.

A small girl was cowering beside him, shivering and trembling like a leaf. He pounded his fist into the ground with rage, he looked up as his aggressor and stumbled back onto his feet.

"I can do this all day, pal." he growled, the bully cracked his knuckles, his name: Adrian Grey. Every since the start of junior high, he's been a thorn in Jaune's side. Always calling him weak, picking on him and his buddy Abe, telling him that he could never be a hero, calling him stupid names. Grey was a jerk, a textbook bully, he didn't care about anyone's feelings, just his own.

"Oh really?" he replied in a cocky attitude,

Jaune's legs were wobbling, he'd never admit it, but his was scared of him. Grey was tall for his age, fat too. The kids in his class never dared cross his path, especially when his lackeys were around. But, today was different.

Jaune ran up to the bully and brought back his arm, preparing to strike. Grey smirked, then the punch flew, Grey caught it. Jaune's heart froze, he paniced. With that he brought his fist back and swung a haymaker punch to his face. The small boy could feel his body leave the earth, the pain was sharp, instant, and damn near blinding. All he saw were black and red spots as his body flew through the air.

THUMP!

His hearing was cutting in and out, and so did his vision. But he could clearly hear the laughter and mirth the bullies were having. With the little energy Jaune had he closed his eyes and silently cried. The tears finally came, but they came down slow and methodical. It felt like acid on his skin, an voice popped into his mind.

His father, _"Arcs don't cry, Jaune!"_

He shut his eyes tight, _'I'm sorry, Dad. It just hurts... so_ _much_.' He sat there for a good minute and cried,

"Why does it have to be this way?" he whispered and begged sadly, he was suppose to be the hero! But why? Why does it hurt so much?

"Thank you." a voice announced, a new voice. A voice that was sweet and had innocence to it. Jaune sucked in a breath, he almost forgot why he finally fought Grey.

He opened his teary eyes, wiped them, and turned towards the girl. She had chestnut hair and two big bunny ears on her head. She was a Faunus, Grey and his goons were picking on her because of her ears and the fact that she wasn't human. It soon escalated to a point where Jaune had to put his foot down, so he pushed Grey. And thus a fight ensued.

The bully commanded his squad to move out, clearly they've finished off their prey, so like hunters, they walked off in search of more prey.

"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly, she started to crawl over to him, slow movements of caution. Jaune changed his demeanor with a flick of the switch, _'No way, I can't look weak in front of a girl!' _He gazed at her and smiled transparently, _'I hope she didn't see me cry!' _He begged the great creator Mounty for a miracle, unfortunately, Mounty was so forgiving today.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm alright! Not a scratch!" he jolted up, stars started to dance across his eyes. He turned to the girl and smiled like a fool. The girl couldn't help it, she smiled. She smiled for the first time in forever. Just something about Jaune made her happy, was it his smile? His courage? His god awful humor? Whatever it was, it made her days bearable.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Band-Aid, made it over to the snarky blonde who was now rubbing his head bashfully. Jaune raised an eyebrow at the Band-Aid,

"You carry band aids on standby?" he asked genuinely curious. She giggled,

"You never know what might happen." she leaned forward and placed it onto his nose.

"There...good...as new." Jaune couldn't help but chuckle, she was sweet, shy, but super sweet. He hopped back onto his feet, for some reason he felt rejuvenated and ready. Offered a hand to the Faunus, which she took, and lifted.

"Don't mention it." he finished, she looked confused. He pointed a thumb behind him, "Look, about earlier, don't mention it. It's my job as a hero of justice!" he stated loudly.

* * *

**Couple Months Later**

It was a full moon out tonight, well shattered moon. Young Jaune was sitting on the porch of his house, enjoying the night breeze that came ever so often. He liked these days, he liked peaceful days, he hated drama filled days. He hated coming home from school and getting sent to his room, or his sisters hassling him around. He liked peace, but peace is hard to obtain, some would say almost impossible.

"Nice night, huh?" came a voice, he turned. It was his mother,

"Hey mom." he quietly responded, as a mother she could tell something big was on her son's mind. She frowned, but Jaune wasn't always so happy-go-lucky as people made him out to be, he was actually much more complicated than people thought.

"Something on your mind, Jaune?" she asked, the boy scoffed and turned._ 'How did she know?' _ She grinned and walked over to him and plotted herself next to her son. Then wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him in close.

"You do realize that I'm your mother, right?" she deadpanned, Jaune smirked, _'Who was I trying to fool.' _He sighed deeply and scooted closer to his mother. Deciding whether or not to actually open up to her. He looked up with sad doe eyes,

"I didn't know being a hero of justice would hurt this much." he stated, his mother went quiet, eerie quiet. She frowned deeply, then her gaze started to linger on the moon. It's pieces glowing yellow in the night sky.

"I wanted to become a Hero of Justice once." Jaune looked up at his mother, she was smiling, but it looked hollow and empty. Her voice was filled with sadness and a tinge of regret.

"So you stopped?" he asked, clearly shocked that his mother actually had the same dream as him.

"Yes and No. I'm more of a diplomatic Huntsmen now than I was in the past. When I was young, I was like your father." she stated, his eyes grew two sizes bigger. "We were inseparable, both of us, we were sent on countless missions that involved saving others. To many I dare to count." her stare turned cold, "But Jaune," she turned to him, her face serious as ever.

"If you save one person, then you must sacrifice another." she declared, Jaune's eyes dilated slightly._ 'So this is why she wanted me to wait.' _He shook his head in disagreement,

"That can't be right!" he shouted, she merely nodded,

"It's true. Jaune you're human, you can't save _everyone_." she planted her hands on his shoulders and shook him lightly. He shut his mouth and actually thought about it, looking at his hands, she's right, he thought. _'I am only human...'_ He clenched his fist tightly, for some reason this statement set a fire in Jaune's heart ablaze. His gaze became sharp and determined.

He peered over at his mother, she had her head down slightly. Almost if in disappointment, he heard her whisper,

"Besides, being a hero has an expiration date." she released a dejected sigh. Jaune smiled with conviction and gently reached for his mother's hand. She snapped at the touch, his eyes were soft, but his smile was brilliant. Her heart started to beat faster,

"I'll become a hero for you, mother. For everyone!" he proclaimed. How could she argue with that look, there was a reason she married John. It was the smile. A smile that could take anyone's breath away. She had to smile back, it was almost contagious.

"I feel happy now. But just... be careful Jaune. This path is not going to be easy." she pinched his cheeks and puffed out her own, looking like a petulant child. Jaune started to laugh,

"Alright, Alright! I promise to be careful!" he muffled, she lunged forward and hugged her son tightly while smashing their cheeks together.

"That's my boy." she whispered in his ear. Jaune treasured the warmth of his mother to the fullest, almost if this was his last hug he'd ever receive. He would have never known that he was right. For awhile, this would be his last hug.

* * *

**2 Years Later**

"AGAIN!" a grown man boomed from above Jaune. Whose face was now currently planted to the floor, courtesy of a kick to his midsection. His eyes were opened, but saw nothing but darkness. He groaned, this day was just getting worse and worse. He clutched his stomach and started to move around, he grabbed his gloves, which he automatically knew were beside him. Repetition can do that to a person.

"Gaahhh...Cap you said you were going to take it eeaassyy!" he complained, he sucked in a breath and stumbled to his knees. He started gulping huge gallons of air, trying desperately to stabilize his heart rate. But he's being worked like a slave, no rest and no stops.

"This training...hehe...is beyond...hellish." he stammered, out of the corner of his eye he saw a hand. He looked up, Steven Rogers was above him. He was wearing a simple grey workout shirt, with gym shorts that really brought out his muscles, it was like he was about to bust out of his top. The Arc would never admit the jealousy he felt at seeing that. Jaune was just wearing a simple full blown hoddie, Steve said that it would help out in the training.

Nope!

"I thought you knew what ya signed up for, solider?" he sarcastically asked, Jaune smirked, and then snorted.

"I remember! I just didn't know it would be this bad!" he grabbed the hand and was pulled up. Steve stopped and looked at Jaune up and down,

"You do realize that you asked _me_ to train you, right? One of _the_ best hand-to-hand combat specialist in Remnant. Do you know what that entails?" he asked, Jaune stood up to his full height, put his arms akimbo on his waist and breathed deeply.

"I know, I know! This is all necessary, in order to accomplish my goal I need to train with the best of the best." he raised a clenched fist, turned to Steven and smirked,

"I made a promise!" he shouted, Steve smiled. The will power, the devotion, passion, determination. It was all there, right there in front of him. And he loved it, he was going to make the best Huntsmen out of Jaune, even if it killed him.

"That's more like it!" he raised his gloves, "Now come on! AGAIN!" Jaune blew out a breath and slipped his gloves back onto his hands before charging in for a punch.

"AHHHH!" he battle cried, He jabbed, kicked, and made a rhythm, _'1..2..3, 1..2..3' _Steve was merely blocking each blow with his wrist and palms, until he saw how blatantly choreographed his moves were, Jaune jabbed, Steve blocked and Jiu Jitsu flipped him onto his back. His body literally flew off the ground. He shut his eyes and waited for the ground to come into contact with his back..

"OH SHI-" he smacked the ground hard.

POW!

Stars were dancing around his eyes, he could've sworn that her heard kuku bird noises. Black spots and clouds were everywhere, his butt now facing up to the sky.

_'This is gonna be a long training session.' _He closed his eyes and sighed loudly,

"Fuck." he whispered.

* * *

**Several Months Later**

The rain was smacking down on Jaune's black hoddie as he ran through an empty park in the City of Vale at 6:00 in the morning. His breath was coming out in puffs of fog and his lungs were burning due to the long exertion. He turned a block sharply, he could hear footsteps coming closer to him. They were loud and fast, _'Not again!' _They were coming closer and closer, until finally they were beside him. And he heard the one phrase that will forever haunt his dreams,

"On your left." and the man zoomed off at speeds that were inhuman. It was such a simple phrase, but a phrase that plagued his mornings and nights.

"DAMNIT CAP!" he tried to push himself for the last stretch, but his heart felt like bursting, he groaned and roared,

"RAAAR!" he pushed his muscles and made it to the tall oak tree. Slipped and fell face first into the dirt.

"MMMM..." He said ("finally") by the way. He popped his head out of the ground and spit the gravel out of his mouth.

"I think I'm gonna...die..." he reached for the trunk in agony and merely flopped to the floor. "Forget it. I'm too exhausted to joke." He merely sat there and breathed, the rain wasn't letting up, and it was starting to get cold. Jaune could care less, his legs just went to hell and back, and his lungs were just dipped in lava. Screw the rain, my legs fell like damn jelly goddamnit! Through the haziness of his vision Jaune could see Steve running up to him and he frowned.

"That was only 2 miles, Arc. What happened?" he asked innocently, Janue had no words, he only moaned,

"Ehhhh..." Cap nodded,

"Oh, so that's what happened huh. Need a medic?" he comically asked, Janue sat on his knees and snorted,

"How bout an new set of lungs." he joked, "Dude, you ran like 13 miles without breaking a sweat!" he exasperatedly stated. Steve smiled at the joke, it felt oddly familiar for some reason.

"I guess I got a late start?" he quipped, Jauned frowned,

"Oh really! You should be ashamed of yourself! Go take another lap!" he jabbed, Steve chuckled. One thing he loved about Janue was his humor, the boy did know how to make someone laugh. Jaune did a double take,

"You just toke it didn't you? I'm assuming you just toke it!" Jaune signed, he reached his arm out and gestured for a pick-me-up. Steve obliged,

"But I'll be honest Jaune, your stamina isn't half bad. We'll get better at it as time goes on." he patted his shoulder and smiled,

"Alright, I'm gonna hold ya to it, Cap." they laughed, well, Jaune whizzed.

"But next up is Muscles!" he shouted enthusiastically, Jaune face faulted.

"For the love of Mounty...STTTOOOPPP!" he sighed and smacked his face.

* * *

**A few months later,**

He jabbed, his opponent blocked with his forearm, he kicked, and so did he. They blocked each others kicks, but Jaune brought his leg back up for a high arcing one. He ducked and tried to sweep his leg, he noticed this and hopped back. Jaune ran up and unleashed a flurry of kicks to his opponents chest, he merely blocked each one.

_'This guys good.' _Just from exchanging a couple of move Jaune knew that his opponent must've had special training due to his technique, but he wasn't as good as Cap. Cap was a monster. The guy jumped forward and brought his leg up high, Jaune caught the leg and flipped his entire person over,_ 'He slipped' _He backed up and waited for his opponent to get up, he did. He followed up with two swings, Jaune went underneath one, then the other. But at the last minute, hooked his arm around his and kneed him in the chest. Then placed his leg behind his and pushed; while pulling his arm forward, thus making the man flip.

He goes for a kick to finish off the fight, it gets caught and he's thrown to the ground. It suddenly becomes a battle of attrition. He throws a kick, but he follows up with a sweep to his leg, he spins to his feet in an instant. Jaune throws a spin round house to the face and a side kick to finish off the man, and the match is over.

"VICTOR, JAUNE ARC" the com says, it was merely a sparring match. The man's Aura was brought into the red, that was the only way to win.

His opponent got up and bowed, Jaune just fought a student from Sanctum. Some higher ups school in Vale, it didn't matter, he won. And his opponent wasn't no chump either. One of the top students in fact. He bowed back as well, it was a sign of respect. Then the two fighters shook hands,

"It was a good match." Jaune proudly said, his opponent nodded,

"Likewise, Arc." his name, Danny Sky was one of many sparring partners Jaune has fought over the pass months. He was new, refreshing, and fought differently then the other people he's fought. But this was strictly a hand to hand combat match, no weapons.

The two left the ring and walked away, Jaune waved back and shouted,

"Some other time, eh?" he smiled and waved without looking,

"You're on, Arc!" and the two fighters exited out of the room.

* * *

**A year or two later,**

"Huntsmen and Huntresses make their own weapons, Jaune. You know that, right?" Cap explained, Jaune nodded as the two walked to Tony's. A famous Engineer and Weapons maker.

"Yeah I know, so I'm guessing today's the day, huh?" the Arc looked excited as ever before. He had some concept of the weapons he wanted, Cap was curious but decided to stay quiet. Make it fun.

Jaune and his teacher walked through the desolate streets of Vale, the roads had little cars, people we're either jogging or walking their dogs. It kinda reminded him of home, not much could be said about Jaune's village. Everyone knew each other, kids played in the streets, adults strolled around engaging in idle chitchat, rather quiet than the city. So this was a rare opportunity,

"Man it's quiet." he whispered, Steve's lips went straight,

"I know. Vale is rarely ever quiet." he said, his tone straight. His senses started to kick in, but he waited. It could be just one of those days. The two turned a corner and approached Tony's.

It had huge sign that read 'STARK' on it with flashing neon blue lights, merely looking at the sign Jaune knew the type of person Tony was.

Rather narcissistic, he thought.

"He clearly loves to see his name on everything." he pointed to the sign and grimaced, Cap sighed,

"Yep, that's Tony for ya."

They entered the Weapons store, a bell signaling their arrival to whomever was inside. They heard a loud yell from the back of the store,

"I'll be there soon!" said the voice. Cap smiled, "It's been quite awhile since I heard his obnoxious voice." The two of them advanced inside the store, Jaune's eyes were exposed to countless armaments, ranging from swords, guns, spears, bows, daggers, etc, if you could name it, Tony probably has it. Each aisle greeted him with something new, like one aisle had a flaming sword, another had purple glowing gloves, one had a pink bow, and another had a huge shotgun/mace.

"Talk about variations." he commented and whistled low, they finally made it to the counter. Behind it was the back of a man, all Jaune could tell was that he had a nice suit and brown hair. Cap leaned over and tapped the bell,

DING!

A pause, the two exchanged a look, Jaune tapped the bell.

DING!

Another pause, Jaune started to repeatedly tap the bell,

DING! DING! DING!-

The man turned around and quickly snatched the bell from the counter,

"I heard you the first time!" he yelled sarcastically, Jaune grimaced. The man had a sharp goatee and brown eyes, he was slightly taller then him but not as tall as Cap. The man started to wipe the bell with his cuff, as if there was dirt on it, he turned and addressed Jaune directly, "You know we're closed, right?" he gave a snarky edge to his words,

Jaune raised an eyebrow and gestured to the front of the store.

"Then why does the sign say open? It's like, glowing in big blue colors, so..." he quipped. Tony frowned, then turned to Steve,

"Who's the stiff?" he joked,

"Hey!" Jaune retorted, Steve smiled,

"Play nice now, Tony. We're here on business, okay." Tony waved him off,

"Everybody's here on business. Who _isn't_ here on business?" he sarcastically stated, Jaune frowned. Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly starting to get annoyed.

"Tony, we're here simply to pick up supplies." the Stark crossed his arms,

"Really? And what do you have in mind?" he asked, Steve turned to Jaune, it was all up to him from here on out. The Arc smirked,

"A good chuck of Vibranium!" with that he slammed a wad of Lein and grinned, everyone went quiet for a second.

"Kid, do you know how rare that metal is?" declared Tony, the owner of the store started to rub his hair in frustration. Steve went wide eyed,

"What're you planning to do with that?" he asked, Jaune exceeded his expectations. The Arc turned to his mentor and pointed a finger at his chest,

"Over the last couple of years, I've seen you do things with that shield that almost defy _physics_. It's a very clever and ingenious weapon when given to you, and lately I've been practicing how to use a shield on my own time, Cap. I want my _own_ shield, something to protect me from evil, something to protect others from evil as well, I don't know why...but I like the concept of a shield."

Steve was stunned, he had no idea Jaune was practicing with that type of weapon. They tried at first, but to him it felt like a lost cause; so they switched to bladed combat. He shut his mouth and nodded his head in calm but understanding manner,

"Ok then, if that's what you want...go for it." he patted his back lightly, Jaune toke this as an approval and smiled.

"That's all fine and dandy, blondie, but who's gonna get the Vibranium, eh?" Steve sighed,

"_You_ owe me some favors, so don't go whining about who's doing what, Stark!" he jabbed a finger at the man, Tony snorted,

"Fine. Anything else oh-great-hero?" he quipped,

Jaune brought out his list and read from the top.

* * *

**Weeks Later,**

He pounded away at the metal while it was hot. At 400 degrees Celsius it made the metal malleable, so he manipulated it into a circle. It was hot, very hot in the room his was in. Stark was supervising his creation. Jaune's thick goggles reflected the sparks as he bounded,

BANG! BANG!

The Arc grabbed a huge prong and grabbed the edge, then dipped it into the water. A huge bloom of steam came out of the liquid, he held it in their for a few minutes before taking it out. He placed it on the table and showed his handiwork off to Stark,

The man actually took off his fancy red glasses and smirked,

"Not bad, kid. Not bad."

_'This is the closest I'm ever going to get to a 'good job' am I?' _He smiled,

"Thanks,"

Tony clapped his hands together,

"Well let's get started on the sword." Jaune smirked,

"Shall we?" he gestured, Tony chuckled,

"We shall."

* * *

**Months Later**

"Alright Jaune, you know what time you have to beat. Start whenever you're ready." Steve ordered, he had a stop watch in his hand and his Scroll out. Clearly coaching the Arc in some way.

Jaune was at the line, his body relaxed and his heart rate steady. He bereaved in, then out. This was his last test before applying to the Combat School known as Beacon Academy. He was ready, his mentor taught him most of the basics, from Aura manipulation, to Semblance. Even Tony Stark aided him when it came to Dust control and the mechanics of weapons.

All in All, his teachers did their parts, now it was up to him. Now he needed to test his abilities, hone his skills. And what better way to test one's abilities then an obstacle course.

He tapped his back, his weapon was firmly magnetized , he touched his holster, his custom modified pistol was snugged in it's place. Then he touched his sheath.

_'Crocea Mors is ready.'_

In honor of his great grandfather's legendary sword n shield, Jaune merely toke the same concept and simplistic look of Crocea Mors and modified it a bit. His shield was circular now, and when the straps are pulled it activates and snaps into place. His sword was golden and shinned bright white in certain conditions, made out of a special metal alloy that Tony Stark himself created,

_'This puppy can almost cut through any metal in Remnant;.' _he boasted, So the Arc tried it out on a tree. He twirled and slashed, and next thing he knew, he became an lumberjack.

The only thing gun related on his person was his lightweight pistol. Designed so that it could fire special Dust rounds when inserted into the magazine, he didn't like all the extravagant weapons people carried around nowadays. He appreciated the classics. But don't get him wrong, some weapons were just badass.

Cap blew the whistle,

He legs shot forward, after a few steps he turned a corner, a volley of bullets were shot his way, _'This is easy,'_ He saw the wall, increased his speed and started running on it, then at the climax hopped off and twirled swiftly.

"AH!" he just barely escaped the bullets.

He rolled to his knees and regained balance, suddenly the walls on either side of him started to close together on him slowly, so he waited for the right moment to hop.

"Now!" he walled jumped like a world class gymnastics star, popping off each surface in sync. He was on top of the course now, he ran at top speed, his heart rate rising, luckily his breathing techniques were starting to come into play.

"breathe, Jaune." he told himself,

A gap was coming over the horizon, he hopped and summer saluted onto his feet. He slipped down a plane, then combat rolled under a projectile.

"Gotta go faster." he said,

The boy parkoured over a ledge and rolled, he grabbed the shield off his back and pulled. It came together with a "CLANG!"

Jaune hurled his golden shield at his targets, each hit ricocheted off the other, thus taking both targets out. It returned back to him because of his quick trajectory calculations. He snapped it to his back and continued,

Halfway through the course he turned another corner, a hand came into close contact with his face. He blocked and Judo flipped the combat drone to the ground; then punched it in the face.

But another threw a kick, he ducked, and followed up with a sweep to the leg.

The drone tripped, Jaune grabbed the leg of the droid and rolled into a hold. Then pulled as hard as he could, thus breaking the leg. He got up and sprinted,

The Arc cartwheeled into a grab of drones, then dispatched one of them with a shield bash to the chest, then kicked back and forth between the bots. He grabbed one with a baton and broke it's arm, then dodged a punch from behind, he slipped behind it and grabbed the waist.

Lifted and suplexed the bot to the floor.

CRACK!

Jaune popped two rounds into the last bot's head and continued on.

The young Paladin of Hope vaulted over obstacles and slid under small paths, he jumped from roof tops and dodged bullets. _'I'm gonna beat this course. Die trying!' _

He let go of the poll his was swinging on and continued his sprint, Jaune was started to lose his breath, he needed to end this now. He turned his last corner and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ah shit." he sighed,

Ten bots, ten level 9 bots. This was gonna be hard.

He brought his shield to the front,

"Before we get started..." he waited and evaluated his targets,

"does anybody wanna get out?" it was more of a warning than a question.

"Who I'm kidding? You guys are robots!" he joked, suddenly the closest one threw the first punch, he blocked, and so did it. They exchanged blows until Jaune repeatedly threw elbows at the bots face; he then flicked roundhouse to the bot's head and severed it completely.

Two more filled in, one in front, and one behind. He countered their strikes with follow up kicks and punches, flipped over one and pinned it's arms back and followed up with a kick to the butt. Sending the two into the wall.

Jaune sprinted and bashed his shield into the nearest one's chest instantly taking it out. Next he twirl jumped and hurled his weapon at the two bots, but when he landed, a kick come into contact with his face. He hit the ground face first,

"Good thing... I have...Life Insurance." he joked, he groaned and rolled back onto his feet. Jaune targeted a lone bot, ran up to it and jumped, next he wrapped his legs around the bot's neck and head and twisted. They both hit the ground hard, Jaune coughed,

"Let's not...(cough, cough) do that again."

A bot grabbed him up off the ground, then another one started punching him in the chest. Each blow hurt like a bitch but he needed to hold out; he jabbed his elbows hard into bot who had him in the choke hold. Then flipped behind it in an instant and spun roundhouse kicked the bot away. Next he shield charged the other to the ground and brought his shield up high. He dropped his arms in order to cut it's head off,

Jaune unsheathed his sword, a couple of the bots were merely stunned. He wanted to take them out; he ran and slashed swiftly at the head of one of the unsuspecting droids. Then threw his weapon at another one; sparks flying out of the machinery.

He rolled over to the last robot and turned the machine around, grabbed it, and repeatedly smacked it's head into his knee; until it could no longer function.

Jaune was now surrounded by broken machinery and bolts, he sucked in a deep breath and sprinted.

With one final back handspring he crossed the line.

Cap stopped the watch.

"Six minutes and twenty seconds. That the best time you've gotten so far, I think you passed." he congratulated, Jaune's jaw dropped,

"No way." the Captain nodded,

"NO WAY!" he nodded again,

"HAHAHA! WOAH!" Jaune started to laugh uncontrollably,

"OH MY GOD! I JUST DID THAT!" he shouted and pointed,

The Arc couldn't contain his happiness, so he laughed until his lungs hurt.

"Man I'm good!" he smirked, Steve shook his head,

"Do get too cocky now, solider. The _real_ challenge is still out there." his lips became straight as his gaze lingered over the vast hill tops.

Jaune lost his smile, but exchanged it with a determine grin,

"You're right, Cap. My next challenge..."

"is Beacon." he stands up and walks over to Cap on the hill.

The City of Vale was underneath them, a sign of much more to come.

"Get ready, Beacon Academy. Because Jaune Arc is coming soon." he whispered,

"That sounded corny." said Cap,

Jaune literally deflated,

"I know."


	3. A Rose,

**Chapter 3, The lights of Beacon**

The City of Vale was rather quiet tonight. Shops were closing, people were heading home, or going out, cars were silently bugging along the streets. A normal, average, everyday night.

Well if you count the group of rather sketchy citizens wearing black business suits with reds ties, then yes. Normal...night.

"You have a nice night now, Mrs. Turner!" Jaune Arc waved a goodbye to the elderly woman behind the counter. It was a local drug store run by a nice couple, the Turners ran the shop for over 20 years and still they're going strong. That's all due to the their unique, and gentle personalities. Or their abundance of customers.

"Oh be quiet young man! Go home, rest, and get ready for school!" she reprimanded the boy, wagging her index finger while placing a hand on her hip. Jaune chuckled,

"You know me, Mrs Turner; always running out of food." he joked, the lady chuckled softly, a sweet sound that could make anyone smile.

"Ho, ho. Funny as always, Jaune. Now go, old people need their sleep too." she turned and started preparing for the night. Jaune nodded, turned and exited the store,

"See ya when I see ya!" he shouted, the door closed with the sound of the bell ringing.

Ever since moving to Vale a couple months ago, Jaune was given the privilege of 'burrowing' Steven's apartment. It wasn't fancy, more old fashioned and a tad bit Spartan at times. It had shelves of vinyl records and an actual record player by his couch, books scattered here and there, a decent sized kitchen and two bedrooms. Plus one bath,

Steve rarely showed at the apartment; only coming to see how Jaune kept the place going. Of course he'd pay the bills and such but lately he's been working alongside the military commander James Ironwood. Steve would occasionally complain about his desk job, preferring to be out in the field. Jaune was alright with the accommodations, rarely would he keep the place unkempt, and rarely would he destroy anything. Besides a crappy vinyl record that fell off one of the shelves, _"It's fine. I hated that track anyways." _Steve said,

The night was cold, wind blew trash across the streets and a dust bunny passed by, people were wearing light jackets and such while the Arc merely wore a blue navy button up shirt. A low rumble originated from within his stomach, it gargled and roared for food, making Jaune frown disapprovingly.

"Man I'm hungry." he whispered,

He crossed the street and headed towards his apartment. After turning a few corners he came across a street that was oddly empty. A couple scurried past him like they saw a ghost. He raised an eyebrow at the strange behavior before turning to his left. He strolled down the street with cautions steps, his eyes darting from each corner to the next.

The hairs on the back of his neck started to bristle,

"I have a bad feeling about this." he mumbled low,

The loud crash of a window shattering nearby alerted his senses, he turned and the next thing he knew a body was being hurled at him. Instinct took over his muscles in an instant, Cap's tutorial on acrobatics played in his mind, more specifically wrapping and tucking.

He pulled his arms up in a split second, got on the boles of his feet and leaped backwards. At the climax of the jumped he tucked his knees in and watched as his world went topsy turvy.

Jaune nailed the landing perfectly, barely stumbling, if you blinked you would've missed it. He was that good. He looked at the body beside him, it was a thug dressed up in formal attire. Black suit, tie, bowler hat, everything. The man was moaning in agony while turning from side to side, Jaune whistled as he kneeled down to see if he was conscious.

"Somebody got their ass kicked." he smirked, he picked up the man by the collar and slapped his face to wake him up. The thug groaned as a line of drool cascaded down from his mouth. Jaune finally got the man awake, he shook the person and growled,

"What's going on, pal?" in the deepest voice he could muster. Trying desperately to sound like a badass, the man brought up his limp hand and pointed to his right.

"That...girl...uhh..." his eyes rolled back into his skull as he ceased talking. The Arc dropped the beaten man and turned, curious to find out who this _girl_ was. What he saw made his jaw drop.

Standing not far from him was a young petite girl with sliver colored eyes dressed in a black blouse and a skirt with red trimmings, complete with a red cloak, she was pale skinned, way shorter than Jaune, from his guess no more than 5'2. Her hair was naturally black but had a red tint towards the tips. The Arc's heart beat started to speed up, her beauty radiated something that struck a cord within the blonde's heart. He swallowed the lump in his throat. Suddenly his mouth became dry and parched,

The girl unleashed her a weapon, a weapon that appeared to be rifle of some kind at first but then extended in a huge red scythe. Jaune sweat dropped,

"Now that's just overkill!" he whispered to himself, he formed a meek frown on his face. Suddenly the girl twirled her scythe in an elegant show and drove the blade into the ground; breaking the concrete. Displaying a show of dominance, begging anyone who dared cross her, she even clicked off her music.

Jaune noticed that the Dust Till Dawn store window was shattered, revealing a rather strapping flamboyant man with orange hair covering his right eye, bowler hat with a red band and for some reason black eyeliner. He also wore a red collared white suit with a small gray scarf with black gloves, shoes, and pants. Rather extravagant for a thug he thought.

"He wears makeup?" he exclaimed in clear disbelief, the man scowled at the girl, thoroughly pissed off with her shit. He pinched the bridge of his nose and squinted his eyes shut in annoyance,,

"Oh for Dust's sake! GET HER!" he shouted, thus kicking his lackeys into high gear. Jaune knew a fight was going to ensue so he checked if any civilians were around in the area.

"Thank Mounty there's no one here."

The Thugs surrounded the red scythe wielder in seconds, one thought it was ok to attack the girl head one. Big mistake. She jumped and twirled her legs expertly and planted a nice kicked to the thugs face. Then grabbed her scythe, pulled the trigger and twirled in a circle; thus sending one poor sap hurling into the air. Jaune winced,

"That's gotta hurt."

She brought the scythe down and hurled the entire object into another thug, knocking him out instantly. Moving faster than any normal human, she started darting from one point to the next point, using her gun feature to accelerate her body. And in an extravagant finisher launched the last thug into the air, twirled around on the edge of her weapon and kicked the man by the orange haired man's feet.

He growled, "Seriously?! What the hell are they feeding you kids nowadays!?." he dropped his cigar and crushed it to ash under his cane. The girl made a determined expression as the man leisurely walked up to him, twirling his cane like a jester. Jaune caught him mumbling under his breath, saying something along the lines of: "all fluff and no substance." The blonde Arc was debating whether or not to intervene, _this is seriously starting to get out of control!_ he thought.

"Well Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," he stops twirling his cane and smirks mischievously at the girl he dubbed as RED. Jaune was starting to piece together the invisible puzzle in front of him,

"and as much as I'd love to stick around..." he lifts up his cane, the butt facing her,

"I'm afraid this-" the end pops up and becomes an armed sight, one used for quick shots if need be.

"is where we part ways." and fires an huge incendiary projectile at the girl. Her body freezes up and she doesn't move.

* * *

A huge explosion rocks the streets; shattering and ripping pavement as a result of the blast. As the dust and red sparks settle down and the world becomes quiet again, the girl unfreezes and opens her eyes. She should be dead and or unconscious, but she wasn't. She froze, why did she freeze up? This question plagued her mind until she noticed the boy standing in front of her.

He was tall, 6'1, natural blond like her sister, jeans and a blue shirt. She noticed his rather toned muscles and lean figure, for some reason she blushed. Even though boys never really crossed her mind before. Her dream far surpassed the simple idea of love or relationships. But this kid was different.

* * *

Jaune slowly eased his grip on his weapon as the last of the vibrations rang through his trusty shield. His right arm throbbed but the pain subsided in seconds, all due to his high pain tolerance. He turned around and opened his baby blue eyes at the girl, she was still, as still as a rock. Her eyes were darting up and down his body, almost if she was evaluating his physique.

_"Is she checking me out?"_ He thought,

Jaune shook his head subconsciously as he brushed off the thought, he rushed over and tapped her shoulder lightly. He needed to get her attention,

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked innocently, the girl released a breath and nodded,

"Yeah, fine. I'm fine." he repeated, Jaune turned around and walked over to an old man. Presumably the owner of the Dust store. He directed the man to a safe place and the man scurried off. He turned back to the girl and shouted,

"Hey, Red!" he pointed to the ladder adjacent to their location, she turned and started running,

"Way ahead of you, blondie!" she shouted back. She pointed her scythe at the bottom of her feet, jumped and pulled the trigger. Launching herself as she pursued her target in an daring manner. Jaune ran over to the building and cursed,

"Shit! I should've brought my super dangerous, scythe gun thingy too!" he sarcastically berated himself. He looked for any means of getting himself on top of the roof, he eyes locked onto a pipe. He smirked, clapped his hands together and leaped for the metal.

"Up and Adam!" and proceeded to climb,

Minutes passed as he agonizingly made his ascent to the top, for some reason he started hearing engine noises. Low rumbles that shook the building, thus shaking his body.

"One foot in front of the other." he reminded himself of his mantra as he climbed. The shaking was making it harder to climb,

An explosion rocked the building, making Jaune lose his grip, one hand went off the pipe and his body lurched back. Barely being held up by his other hand,

"WHOA! WHOA! WHOAA!" he flailed a little bit before he regained his footing, Jaune clenched his teeth and cursed.

"What the hell is going on up there?!" He shouted, Jaune balled his fist and shook it at them.

He leaped higher up the pole, climbed, and leaped again, trying to increase his pace as he went. Another explosion rocked the building, he braced himself for the shock. After that one, he noticed strange colorful flashes originating from the top, he squinted. He saw an arrange of colors, purple, orange, red, blue even. He grit his and concentrated on his climb,

"I've gotta get up there!" he sucked in a breath and resumed, and with a couple of jumps he made it.

There was one final explosion, a large one at that. Jaune barely had a chance to react as the g forces launched him off the roof, his stomach feeling the weight of the hit.

With a quick reflex Jaune brought his hand out and gripped the edge. Luckily, his body was sent backwards, is head automatically saw the ground and in a frantic frenzy lurched his other hand to the ledge.

He panted heavily, then shook his head tiredly,

"I'm seriously getting no breaks today; am I?" he sighed, flipped himself back onto the roof and hunched over. His hands on his knees as he regained his breath,

"Jaune?" said a feminine voice,

He raised an eyebrow and looked up, air hitched in throat.

"No way! Miss Goodwitch?" his eyes almost bulged out of his sockets.

His old babysitter from times long past; Glynda Goodwitch was standing alongside Red as the result of a battle that transpired minutes ago took place. She had a look of disapproval on her face or she was just merely pissed off. Jaune couldn't tell, all he knew was that it's been ages since he seen, let along heard from the woman.

"Long time, no see, eh?" he bashfully rubbed his hair.

There was a slight grin on the woman's face. A very, _very_, small grin.

* * *

Jaune was now in a makeshift interrogation room. He's been in a real one before not too long ago...

The mere thought made him shiver,

_'Wasn't one of the best experiences_.' He frowned,

Miss Goodwitch was pacing around the desk, berating and reprimanding him about his actions.

"What in Dust's name were you thinking, Jaune?!" he shouted as she moved to the front of the table,

Jaune shrugged his shoulders and merely yawned,

"I told you already. I saw some girl who was in trouble and decided to help her! No muss, no fuss." he stated with a curt nod,

Glynda rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation,

"Always playing the hero, are we, Jaune?"

He turned and smirked,

"You know me, Miss Goodwitch."

The teacher pinched her nose and paced some more, Jaune was shivering from the cold air that filled the room. He wished for a jacket and started to yawn. Drowsiness was starting to get the better of him. Glynda noticed this and decided to wrap it up,

"I wish we could stay and chat some more, but someone important is here to meet you." she almost whispered, the Arc could pick out the slight disappointment in her voice, but elected to ignore it. Miss Goodwitch had more important priorities than her use to be child,

Jaune smiled, "Oh goody, I wonder; who could it be?" he tapped his chin in fake contemplation, but in reality he had a clue to who it was.

A man walked out of the back room, gray hair, glasses that hung on his nose, jacket and green scarf. He seemed calm and collected, the type that usually would avoid physical confrontations. He threw an vanilla dossier folder perfectly onto the table, causing a picture to slide out for Jaune to see. When the boy got a better look at the photo, he froze.

It was him,

He was carrying a bloodied child while shouting at someone, probably a medic or Doctor, fire could be seen in the background. The Arc was covered in grime, sweat and blood. It was a horrifying image to look at. One would say explicit,

Every hair on his entire body stood up, a single drop of sweat came down his cheek and numerous goosebumps covered his body. This didn't go unnoticed at all, Glynda frowned at the boy as she evaluated him from head to toe. Her lips dipped into a sorrowful expression, she knew the story, she knew everything. And it worried her to no end.

Jaune's defense mechanism kicked in, his only defense for something like this.

He joked,

"Now who in the world is this handsome devil?" it was transparent as glass, everyone knew, who was he trying to fool. The man smirked, but it wasn't a normal one. It said something like: "don't bother."

"The hero of the Signal Massacre." announced the man,

A title,

A title that made Jaune's blood go icy cold, he flinched slightly from the name. An image of a woman screaming flashed in his mind, he gulped and tried to regain his lost composure. He closed his eyes and snorted,

"You and I both know that I don't deserve that title..." he sighed,

"Professor Ozpin." he finished with a grunt,

The man seemed impressed, but a little confused, Jaune would even say curious.

"And why might that be, Jaune Arc?" he asked, his tone innocent.

Jaune stared hard at the table, not wanting to look up at anyone. Shame filling his body at the mere thought,

"There were so many others that I could've saved. I'm no hero." he belittled himself, scolded himself. Jaune couldn't see Ozpin's smirk,

"You're only human, Mr. Arc. What you did on that day was remarkable, something few people could pull off." he walked over and gently touched the boy's shoulder.

It was warm and comforting hand on his cold skin. Something drove the boy to look up into the man's eyes. Ozpin reached for the folder and rifled through its contents, he nodded his head, seeming rather impressed for some reason.

"Disciple of Capt. Steven Rogers. Moderate grades in most academic fields, exceptional strategic capabilities, and I quote "has the right stuff to become more than just a Huntsmen." Also an affinity for hand to hand combat and weapons." He passed the dossier over to Glynda and pulled up a chair,

"How's Steve?" he asked, Jaune could hear concern in his voice,

"He's fine. Still acting like the Captain, you know?" he chuckled, "But lately he's been swamped with work."

Ozpin shook his head in agreement,

"I'd figure as much. On that fateful day, the word 'peace' became a mere idea; not a _reality_." he rubbed his jaw and continued, "Ironwood has more to deal with nowadays. Because that wasn't White Fang that attacked, it was someone else."

He was right, Jaune furrowed his brows,

"It was. If anything, the White Fang are a bunch of glorified bullies that think violence is the only means of achieving their goals." he stated with a passion that made Ozpin smile,

"But those guys...they...they were different." he gulped, he remembered the horrendous events that happened,

"They were trained killers; trained Huntsmen and Huntress. People who didn't show mercy, they just...killed. Almost if they were soulless machines, I saw people beg for their lives, and they answered their prayers with a bullet to the head." Jaune's voice trembled in fear, anxiety and terror, Glynda was by his side in a second. Her hand on his shoulder, she rubbed small circles and tried desperately to calm him down. One look into her eyes and the Arc started to regain himself,

Ozpin closed his eyes and rubbed his face, he's seen worse. Which was horrifying, the idea that he could relate to the boy in front of him spoke volumes. The headmaster leaned in close and stared deeply into the baby blue eyes of the male Arc.

"Mr. Arc, are applying to my school?" his voice was deep and ominous, "Even after what you've been through; you still want to pursue this path?" he asked.

The room was filled with a pregnant silence for at least a good minute.

Jaune sucked in a deep breath and returned the headmaster's gaze with one of his own.

"Yes Sir. I am, and there's nothing that's gonna to stop me." his voice was stern, determined, and filled with conviction. Ozpin got up abruptly and raised his hand out,

"Then Welcome aboard, Mr. Arc." In disbelief the boy shook the headmaster's hand,

"Sooo... Does this mean...I'm in?" he asked, confused as ever.

"Yes my boy, you're in." he chuckled,

Jaune exploded,

"YES! OH HELL YEAH!" he shouted and cheered, he jumped from his seat and hollered and jumped. He even hugged Glynda, he closed his eyes and smiled happily as his body exploded with excitement.

The poor Arc missed the beet red blush on Glynda's face. She stuttered and fumbled as the boy twirled her around, enjoying every bit of it. Radiating a glow of happiness the was once nonexistent a moment ago.

"YA hear that, Miss Glynda, I'm going to Beacon! WOOOOAAA!" he cheered,

Glynda Goodwitch lost her professional composure in seconds. She made the fatal mistake of touching the young man's chest as she tried to pry herself from his iron grip. She felt his toned abs, the hard muscles sent shivers down her spine. She noticed his chest, he wasn't huge but in between. He was the ideal man, not teenager...

This was getting out of hand.

"L-let me down this instant, Jaune Arc!" the boy stopped and let the down, Jaune stilled smiled like the sun. He rushed over the Headmaster and started vigorously shaking the man's hand. Beaming with an untamable joy,

"Thank you so much sir. You won't be disappointed! I'll train my butt everyday, I'll be the best Huntsmen out there!"

Ozpin smiled back,

"Oh I'm counting on it Mr. Arc. I'll surely be curious to see what happens in the future." he let go the boy's, he actually felt his hand pulsate from his grip. "Now head home and rest. You'll need all the sleep you can get. See you at Beacon, Mr. Arc." he turned on his heel and started to head out.

But right as he got to the door he stopped,

Without looking, he shouted back at him: "Oh and I hope you're recovering well. I never knew the human body could make such miracles...anyway, Goodnight."

Jaune's eyes dilated,

_'Holyshit! Does he know!?'_

Glynda followed behind Ozpin, but waved to Jaune in farewell.

"Nice seeing you again, Jaune." her professional aura back and her cold exterior present, nut he returned the wave with a cheeky smile,

"It was nice seeing you too, Miss Glyn." he called her by her nickname, hoping she would remember, she chuckled,

"You still remember that?" he nodded, "How could I forget!"

Once the two teachers left, Jaune found the door and ran his ass home.

* * *

**The next week**

He reached over a tapped a random kids shoulder,

"I gonna warn you right now. I might throw up on ya." Jaune felt bile fill his throat, luckily he choked it down. The kid looked at him in disgust and moved as far away as possible, not wanting to fall victim to Jaune's vomit.

Jaune resumed starring at floor, trying desperately not to look out the window. Because if he did...there'd be a pile of vomit on the floor.

"I freakin hate flying." he groaned, a hiccup came out of nowhere and he started to feel it rise up again. He pushed it back down again,

* * *

Ruby Rose was not having it,

She was nervous; and Yang's 'being the bee's knees' was not helping at all.

"Look Yang, I just want to be a normal girl, with normal knees." she declared, Yang frowned at the statement

"What's wrong with you!" she lurched over and locked Ruby in a tight hug,

"you are special, Rubes." she reminded the girl,

As the news rambled on in the background, Ruby's eyes started to scan the crowds, that was until she noticed a blonde boy standing alone by upper half of the Airship. He was sweating profusely and looked...slightly green.

"He looks familiar." she mumbled, she wiggled her way out and proceeded to the boy.

"Rubes where are you-" she cut her off with a finger to her lips, shushing her.

* * *

Jaune felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned.

It was the girl from the other night. He didn't get her name, so he settled on just calling her Red. Her sliver eyes grew two sizes as shock took over,

"Holycrap! It's you!" she asked in disbelief, Jaune merely smirked,

"Oh yeah, you're that badass chick from the other day!" he pointed, she literally started jumping up an down,

"You're seriously going to Beacon!" she asked exuberantly,

"If I can make through this flight, then yeah, I am." he laughed,

"You're not a fan of flying, are you?" responded the girl,

"Yep. Never have, never will." he declared, Jaune tightened the straps on his gauntlets, it was like a tick to calm his stomach down. He reached his hand out and offered a hand,

"Names Jaune Arc, short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Chicks dig that." he said in a suave manner, seeing if he can put on his womanly charms,

She merely laughed,

"I'm sure they all do. It's Ruby, Ruby Rose." the two shook hands.

"Pretty name." he complemented with honesty, no suave manners, just plain Jaune. He didn't miss the cute blush on her cheeks and the way she fumbled with her skirt.

_'Adorable.' _he smiled,

Suddenly a tall girl walked up beside Ruby. She was 5'10 with yellow hair that exceeded the color, almost if it resembled the sun. Lilac colored eyes, and...

pretty impressive assets. Not to mention her state of attire just screamed social butterfly. Or adrenaline jockey, either or. She looked at him with almost hungry eyes, checking out every curve of his body.

_'Hope you like what you see.'_ He smirked,

"Who's tall and handsome here, Rubes?" her voice was rather loud, but he didn't mind. He blushed at the statement, even Ruby blushed.

"Yaang!" she scolded,

"Oh pipe down, Rubes." she moved in extra close to Jaune's personal bubble. Making him feel super uncomfortable and getting a healthy dose of boob.

"If you don't back up, I'm gonna hurl all over you." and she did. Ruby sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Yang, meet Jaune Arc. Jaune, this is my sister; Yang Xiao Long." she introduced,

Yang got super close again and started flirting with the boy,

"Hey handsome," he blushed, Ruby grabbed Yang and pulled her back,

"Yang stop!" she pouted,

"Oh lighten up! I was merely joking!" she laughed at the red face her younger sister was giving him.

Jaune merely smiled as the two sister started arguing. He enjoyed their company, and he's already made friends,

"This might turn out to be a great year." he mumbled,

* * *

**Alright another chapter completed! What happened during the Signal Massacre? Does Professor Ozpin know something that everyone else doesn't?**

**Please leave review and continue reading. Your reviews give me the power to write, so review! And give plenty of feedback and or suggestions.**


	4. The First Day

**Sorry fellow readers for the extended delay. I've been playing The Witcher 3 for the past couple weeks and boy is it fuckin' AWESOME! Recommend it 100% 10/10 in my book. But please, read, critique and enjoy this chapter. Feedback(constructive feedback) is always appreciated. ENJOY!**

* * *

Ozpin twiddled his fingers against his desk idly, his left hand supporting his head as he scanned his desk for the hundredth time today. His eyes were vacant and dull from boredom, every couple minutes an occasional yawn would escape his lips as he became lost in thought. Papers scattered everywhere, he thought. So many new students, so much potential. He riffled through the documents until he found a particular file that piqued his interest.

"Ruby Rose...mhm." he hummed low to himself, after that fateful encounter not too long ago Ozpin's level of expectation was set pretty high for the jubilant scythe wielder. Her goals were very ambitious, almost child like but the look in her slivery eyes spoke otherwise.

"I expect great things from you." he smiled and lightly set the picture alongside three other profiles. One read: Yang Xiao Long, another read: Weiss Schnee, and lastly one said: Blake Belladonna. He looked at all three of them and grinned, almost laughing at the ironic pattern he just made.

"That. That right there would be a good team." he whispered. He absentmindedly reached for his trusty cup of coffee, once his fingers felt the handle he curled and pulled the cup to his mouth. The scent of freshly brewed coffee grains entered his nose; he sniffed and exhaled. Nothing like a good cup of joe in the morning. His lips touched the edge of the cup before a loud crash ranged throughout the room.

BUBANG!

Thus causing a small bit of precious stimulant to spill from his cup, drops of light brown liquid hit his pants and the sudden temperature burned his legs. He jumped up and hissed loudly,

"That's gonna stain pretty bad, damnit." he could hear the sounds of a familiar pair of high heels belonging to a certain Instructor click across the floor. One he silently hoped wouldn't interrupt his downtime. He turned, his face locking into his usual visage, straight lips, impassive face and keen eyes. Glynda Goodwitch marched right up to the Headmaster of Beacon Academy with an irritable expression and a deep frown on her lips. Clearly, something was on her mind, or she was just fed up with something. Whatever it was Ozpin really really didn't want to hear it. His head's been hurting lately and Glynda had a nack for getting on his nerves.

But as usual he calmly greeted the Professor,

"Ah, Glynda what's wrong? You seem rather...agitated if I do say so myself, something's gone awry I presume?" he seated himself back in his comfy chair and motioned for her to come forward.

Glynda was on edge, she just couldn't accept one of the many decisions Ozpin made in the recent times. One involving a certain Arc boy, she pushed her glasses back onto her nose and toke in a sharp intake of air.

"I highly disagree with your decision, Professor Ozpin. Highly disagree!" she states with finality and a tad bit of anger that didn't go unnoticed by Ozpin. He raised an eyebrow and reached for his mug again, got up and walked to the vast window that overlooked the entire campus. He knew exactly what she was talking about but decided to play it dumb.

"What ever do you mean, Glynda?" he didn't turn to face her, merely raised his free hand up in an questioning manner.

Glynda frowned,

"Oh like you don't know. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Jaune. Jaune Arc. I believe that that boy isn't ready for this school." her voice elevated in volume, showing the displeasure she felt at the current moment.

Ozpin sighed, he was anticipating this exact conversation. It just took a matter of time. Due to the relations that Glynda had with Jaune in the past it only made sense for her to worry. To feel for the child, besides what he went through wasn't normal or different from other teenagers. Matter of fact, it was just plain horrible.

"In what field, Glynda? In what shape or form is Jaune Arc _not_ eligible for Beacon Academy?" his voice went up as well, genuinely curious as to why the young man shouldn't try his hand at the big leagues.

Glynda grit her teeth slightly, then pulled up the pad she had in her hands and opened a file. It was a full psychological analysis of Jaune Arc, taking place a couple days after the infamous Signal Massacre. She walked up closer to Ozpin as he put his hands behind his back. The Professor cleared her throat as she read aloud,

"Patient suffers from a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress. Fatigue, Guilty conscience and countless other symptoms. For example: Lack of sleep, Hallucinations, vivid flashbacks and delusions. Subject is unfit, needs more sessions." she finishes off with a depressed exhale. So many problems, so much pain, she thought.

Ozpin's lips curled up, almost like a cat's lips. He turned his head and asked for the teacher in a level tone to open a very specific file, Glynda raised an eyebrow, clearly never hearing the file's name before. And as the teacher started reading it, Ozpin started to recite it word for word.

"Subject has improved tremendously in mere months. Astonishing, subject seems to exhibit normality and equilibrium after a few sessions. He doesn't even need me anymore, who is this boy? Physique has improved, more like advanced, attitude normal and rather ecstatic. The only significant thing to report are his dreams. They seem sporadic in nature, coming ever so often. More or less, he's...fine."

Glynda's eyes grew as she read the last few bits of information; Ozpin finished his reciting exactly at the same time she tapered off the word 'fine'. She paused, then started to muse over what she read.

"Incredible." she whispered, Ozpin picked up on that small word and smiled from ear to ear. He knew she would react like this, shock and awe. When he read the file himself Ozpin could only whistle in appreciation. The Headmaster turned around, pointed a finger at the pad and started to pace from one side to the next,

"And, that's no ordinary shrink mind you. Her name's Alaska Violent, pretty famous in her line of work." he chuckled to himself. Glynda looked up and ran a hand through her hair in disbelief. This couldn't be right; it couldn't possibly be right! she thought. She opened her mouth to speak but Ozpin cut her off, deciding to explain the reason himself.

"H-how-"

"The next day she declared Jaune sane. _Sane_ Glynda. That's more or less incredible; and you an I both know that the Signal Massacre was not in any means a joke..." his voice deathly serious, and so was his expression almost dark even. He turned around and brought his hands up, flat, almost like two balance scales.

"They say were in a time of peace..." he brings his left arm up a little, then his gaze drifts over to his right hand.

"Some beg to differ, they say that that single event sparked a fire and more or less ruptured our sense of _peace_..." he emphasized the word and snorted, almost if it was a sick joke. Glynda furrowed her brows, she didn't like where this was going; the way he spit the word out of his mouth didn't really bode well in her mind. Ozpin brought his left hand down and his right hand started to rise.

"Like the boy said, that was not White Fang. It was someone else, someone who wants to spread the spark and start a fire. Somebody who wants to start a _war_." his voice was dark and monotone, Glynda swore that the room dropped in temperature, Ozpin's voice was cold, freezing cold. But she remembered something,

"Yes, that is true but, what does this have to do with Jaune?" she crossed her arms and tapped her toes. He raised his finger and walked over to his desk,

"Jaune Arc has an unwavering spirit, one that can not be easily broken, but remember what he said when we recruited him?" he leaned up against his desk and waited, Glynda mused for awhile, turning the clocks back a couple weeks.

"He said that he wanted to become a hero of justice. One that would help the suffering and the..." she stopped, her mind piecing together the puzzle, Ozpin decided to finish her thought process cause she looked up at him with a face of realization.

"Just imagine being in his shoes; there're people all around you who are dying and suffering, Dust knows by what, the fire, bleeding, wounds, etcetera. And _you_ have the power to save them. So many life or death decisions being made in seconds, and you an I both know full well that some _will_ die and some will live..." Glynda glopped,

"That's a horrible position to be in." she responded, her voice wavering from the mere thought. The guilt would've eaten her alive, amidst countless other things as well.

"Indeed. And for Jaune to recover from that ordeal is an achievement in itself..." The Headmaster reached behind his desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a drive. A drive that he's kept secret for weeks. He grabbed it and started to playfully toss it up and down in his hand. Glynda hummed to herself, what is he up to now?

"Besides, he'll become a valuable asset in the future." he dangerously finished his sentence, Glynda picked up on the slightly decrease in tone, almost if he was hiding something sinister.

Ozpin tossed the drive to Glynda and she caught it out of pure reflex, without even taking her eyes off the Headmaster. She opens her hands to reveal a blue drive that wrote "_SS_" nothing more. She raised an eyebrow at the device then switched it to Ozpin.

"Reports say that an Arc was running through the hospital fire, helping every person he came across and directing civilians to safety, some say he was taking out insurgents along the way as well, but all these reports have one fact in common." he points to the pad, Glynda sticks the drive in. She taps a few commands into the device and a high definition video pops up,

In the ten seconds a clips pops up, in an instant a huge orange and red explosion was recorded on the middle floor. Glynda blinked, the clip was vivid and explicit, people were huddled outside the building, everyone covered in blood and ash. Rubble was scattered everywhere. It looks like battlefield, she thought. She looked up at him with a grim expression,

"Keep watching." and she does, the video cuts to an interior camera. What comes next makes the professor gasp loudly;

on the floor was Jaune. He was laying in a pool of his own blood, Glynda concluded so, and she could easily see pieces of material jutting out his body, piercing his flesh and organs.

"My god." she loudly exclaims, she clasp a hand to her mouth in shock. The Professor was starting to lose her composure, this was to much for her to handle, with wide eyes she turns back to Ozpin, her eyes slightly red,

"What the hell is this Ozpin?!" she shouts, the Headmaster calmly and coolly walks over to her. He swipes the video away and pulls up a couple of redacted files, files that originated from the Department of Defense, lead by James Ironwood, signed by him as well.

"After a couple minutes Captain Rogers appeared on the scene, he performed emergency CPR on Jaune and pull out of the he started breathing..." for some odd reason Glynda sighed in relief. It was odd though. "...then the next issue was the massive blood loss his body sustained. Rogers took the boy to a military facility, he unfortunately concluded that Jaune wasn't going to make it..." Glynda sucked in a breath, her heartrate was spiking.

"He decided to enact an emergency blood transfusion. He being the ideal donor. But surgery wasn't going to save Jaune, he needed something different, something that would accelerate the process. His wounds were just too severe to simply stitch up." he paused and waited for Glynda to digest the information.

"Don't tell me. His blood..."

"Bingo. His blood. Project Rebirth's perfected Super Solider. The key was in his DNA. Rapid cell production, increase metabolism, muscle enhancement, the entire works." he declared, but Glynda went quizzical,

"But I thought it was locked in his genetic code? That he was the only one." The Headmaster shook his head in disapproval,

"That's where you're wrong. They were actually able to replicate the experiment not too long ago, but all the candidates died in the process... So basically it was a HUGE gamble."

Glynda was shaking, Ozpin was dodging or merely sidestepping from the truth, and she was literally going through a genuine emotional roller-coaster. So many cold facts thrown at her face were starting to get too rough to handle.

"So they proceeded with the transfusion?" she asked, the mere idea of Jaune surviving the procedure was a 1 in a million chance, but clearly...it worked.

"Yes. After the injections they saturated the boy with a small amount of Vita-Rays and the surgery continued with a success." he finished off his story with a sigh, a deep exhausted sign. He could only imagine what the boy went through.

"This in turn made Arc more or less...the very first Super Solider since Steve Rogers. But all information is being kept from the public, and due to Captain Roger's status he was able to pull a few strings so that the military wouldn't hound the boy 24/7, he needs _some_ semblance of an normal life."

Glynda took out the drive and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her forehead showing clear wrinkles from the stress she was feeling. "Jaune's a Super Solider?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes and no. He's part Super Solider. He didn't go through the complete transformation as Rogers did," He grabbed the drive and walked over to the desk,

"So that's what you meant by _asset_." her voice sounded crossed, and a tab bit disgusted. "You're planning to use him in the near future." For some odd reason, Glynda wasn't upset, just crossed that Ozpin would keep this type of secret from everyone, especially her.

"Maybe." a sly grin made it's way onto his lips. "...his strength, vitality, endurance, mind and body are on a higher level then most highly trained Huntsmen. But it's only activated in extreme conditions. Life or Death extreme. Which he'll experience plenty of in the near future." He walked over to the window and trained his gaze on a student.

Glynda looked at him defeated and joined him at the window, vacantly staring out into the campus. That was until her eyes spotted the man of the hour, Jaune was making his way down to the entrance, accompanying him was Ruby Rose and presumably Yang Xiao Long. He seemed content, more along the lines of...excited.

"Do the parents know of his..._condition_?" she asked,

"Yes. In fact, if you ask him he'll tell you that his family calls him almost everyday." he smiled at that, and so did Glynda.

"Good. I could just imagine how worried his mother was when she heard the news." There was a long pause. The two were mulling over what to do,

"So...war is inevitable then?" she asked in a wary and trembling voice. She feared Ozpin's answer but ultimately she knew deep down that it was true.

"Unfortunately..." he nodded his head and turned over to Glynda,

"Let's get to work." he patted his follow teacher's shoulder and started heading for the exit, his face pointed down, his mind consumed with thoughts of the future.

* * *

Jaune saw a nearby garbage can, the sliver waste disposal looked like a heavenly treat that was too far from his reach. He swallowed the bile in his throat again; already he's left an impression on the people here at Beacon. The fiery blonde already pinned a ridiculous nickname to him,

Fuckin Vomit Boy?! he thought.

He facepalmed exasperatedly, he did one thing wrong! One thing! And now that name will probably stick with him to the end of his time here. Maybe forever. When the three students walked down the perfectly crafted road to the Academy they stopped and admired the vast campus tower.

"Woowwww." the sisters wooed in unison. Jaune whistled a high pitch note, he placed a hand on his hip and clicked his tongue,

"Almost looks like a darn castle." he whispered,

The boys eyes danced over the buildings, the architecture, scope, shape and design of Beacon Academy was spectacular. His body was shaking from sheer excitement, almost like Ruby's; but he noticed that she seemed reserved, almost stressed even. Ruby's mouth was opened in awe, and he could only smile. Something about her look made him giddy.

Adorable,

"View from Vale's got nothing on this!" Yang shouted and crossed her arms, clearly she was impressed with the vast campus as well. Jaune chuckled,

"No kidding."

Students started walking across the pathways, people of every race, color, or gender. Ruby squealed as her slivery eyes started to pickup on the many weapons that passed her line of sight. She looked about ready to pounce as the students walked by, Yang merely looked at her with a face that said "Good Grief." And Jaune couldn't blame her.

"Oohh...Sis look!" her entire body morphed into a chibi version of herself, her body started to float and her eyes were filled with bright stars. "That kid's got a collapsible staff!" Hearts started to pop up above her head, "Ohmygod, she's got like...a super cool fire sword!" Ruby started to drift away and Yang rolled her eyes once more. She reached for the scythe wielders hoodie and yanked her back. Jaune smiled, her reaction was super adorable. Who knew she was such a weapons nut.

"Easy there little sister." she lightly scolded her younger sister, Ruby visible deflated at that. "They're just weapons." Ruby snapped at that, cleary being offended by such a bold statement. She huffed,

"Just weapons! They're extension of ourselves, they're apart of us! They're just SO damn cool!" she started to swoon over the concept of weapons, Jaune merely huffed. But he nodded his head,

"She isn't wrong." he muttered under her breath; barely audible for the rest of them to hear. His eyes started to drift to his unique shield, the shield he crafted with his own hands, the shield that's been through hell and back. Yeah, without it, he'd be more or less naked.

"Well why can't you swoon over your own weapon?" she asked, Ruby wiped out her almighty scythe. He flinched and jumped back a few feet.

"HOLY DUST!" he shouted loudly, his heart jumped into his throat. "I'll never get use to that." he mumbled.

"Oh sorry. But, of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose. I just like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people...but...better." Yang heaved a sigh and walked over to her sister. Hopeless, she thought. He pulled her hood over Ruby's head and giggled,

"Ruby...come on. Why can't you just make friends of your own?" she innocently asked, Jaune felt a little binge of anger. I'm not friends with them yet? he thought. Ruby flipped up her hood and looked up at Yang with big doe eyes.

"But why would I need friends when I have you?" Jaune face-faulted, seriously, it's like he doesn't even exist! Yang's eyes moved to Jaune's, he caught on and raised an eyebrow. She smiled quickly, suddenly a random lackluster group of students appeared beside Yang and her voice started to speed up.

"Well, actuallymyfriendsareherenow! Gottagocatch up!'Kay,c'ya,bye!" and her whole little group zoomed off towards the entrance,

The force of the rush threw Ruby for a huge loop, her eyes turned into swirls and her body literally made a 360 turn. Jaune chuckled. For some reason he didn't want interfere. It was almost like she was stuck in her own universe, a universe he didn't want to disturb just yet.

"Wait! Where are you going!? Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Do we even HAVE dorms!" she sighed,

"I don't even know what I'm doing." she sounded defeated and let her body collapse to the ground. Clearly done with the situation. Her body crashed into an assortment of suitcases that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. White plain suitcases scattered everywhere, Jaune cringed at that. He heard heels approaching them, high pumps specifically,

"What are you doing!" another high pitched voice yelled. Ruby's back bolted straight up,

"Sorry?!" she whimpered to the person. Jaune's mouth dropped ever so slightly, the girl in front of them had an air of pride, elegance and stature.

She was a young girl, dressed primarily in white. She wore a pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly colored thigh-length dress with a piece of black lace making up the neckline of the dress. The inside of the bolero was red and the sleeves turned blue as they got closer to her wrists.

The back of the bolero displayed a strange Crest that oddly bears the likeness to a snowflake. The girl wore an apple shaped necklace along with a pair of thin rectangular boots that went all the way to her mid calf, insides also red. Her long white hair was pulled in an off center ponytail, at the base of which is a small tiara that resembles icicles.

She had a pale complexion and ice blue eyes. Something Jaune thought was rather pretty, his heart started to beat faster than usual, and his face started to get red. He noticed the crooked scar down her left eye but didn't pay it any mind.

Woah, she's like a princess. A snow princess, he thought.

The blonde's hands started to become clammy, something that rarely happened. Jaune could hear the voice of his dad echoing in his mind,

_"Every girl likes a man with CONFIDENCE!" _he bellowed to his son, Jaune remembered how his dad pounded his fist to his chest and hollered. Almost if he was the very essence of manliness. He also remembered how tired his mother looked, probably fed up with her husband's antics.

_"DON'T THINK, DO!"_

Right! Think then do! I mean, do then think!" he shook his metaphorical head as he mustered to gumption to speak first.

"You look like a snow princess." he blurted out. It wasn't loud or over the top. He simply announced the first thing that was on his mind. His mind screamed in agony, berating himself over and ovver for saying something so stupid and out of place.

The entire confrontation stopped at the sound of his words. The girl stopped screaming and turned her sharp gaze to Jaune, he noticed a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"N-no one was talking to you!" she bashfully screamed, clearly she was slightly flustered and confused. She took one once over of Jaune and directed her gaze back to Ruby. Her eyes ever so often making their way back to his body.

"Do have any idea of the damage you could've caused!?" she jabbed a finger right at Ruby, the scythe wielder scrambled for a case and timidly handed it to her. She snatched it with an attitude, "Gimme that!" She clicked the case opened, probably checking to see if the contents were intact. "...This right here is Dust. Mined and purified from Schnee Quarry." prideful and elegant was she.

Ruby merely shook her head, she turned towards Jaune with a confused look, he opened his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "Uhh..." The girl snaps,

"What are you, brain dead!?" she grabs a random vial and starts to shake it around, emphasizing her point. Jaune was in his stupor, merely watching as events unfolded, "DUST! Water, fire, lightning, energy!" Clouds of Dust started to float out of the vial with each shake the snow princess made, Jaune sweatdropped.

"Uhh...I wouldn't shake that if I were you." he explains, the princess glares at him dangerously.

"Quiet you!" she resumes her rant, "Are you even listening to me!?" Jaune backs up little by little,

"I already see where this is going." he mumbles.

"What do you have to say for yourself!?" the girl commands, shaking it one last time. The boy gulped,

Oh crap.

"Uhhhhaaahhhhh-Choooo!"

A mixed explosion of fire, lightning, and ice covered the two girls for a solid couple minutes. Jaune let out a cheeky chuckle, once the dust settled the girl looked even more furious then before. She stomped her foot and the soot leaped off her body, but unfortunately she had to continue her rant.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" she stood akimbo and growled out of frustration. Jaune giggled, this was just too cute. Ruby bashfully poked her fingers together.

"I'm really, really sorry." she pleaded, the girl rolled her eyes, clearly not buying the apology for a second.

"You're such a dolt." she pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation and waved her arms around animatedly. "What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" she questioned rather rudely.

Jaune stepped in, enough being the bystander for once.

"Uh snow princess?" he taps her shoulder, she scowls again and points daggers at the boy.

"Not you again." she sighed,

"Hey! You know what, people do make exceptions from time to time! My friend here's a pretty good fighter. She doesn't need you prying into her business." he defends his friend. He could hear Ruby gasp in relief while the princess merely grew red.

"Don't lecture me, blondie! This doesn't concern you!" she jabs back, Jaune merely raises an eyebrow at ludicrous insult.

"Blondie? Really?" he honestly thought someone like her would make up a better comeback, but insulting wasn't in her forte. More like attitude, or just being a know-it-all. The girl blushes ever so slightly,

"Sh-shut up." she cutely retorted, she huffed and decided to ignore the only boy present. Jaune could hear Ruby snicker. "We're here to fight monsters so...watch where you're going!" she shouted. Ruby's face hardened, the boy could see that the crimson wielder wasn't going to buy it any longer.

"Hey I said I was sorry, Princess!" she shouted back with clear intentions.

"It's Heiress, actually." came another strange voice. One that sounded level and calm, not at all loud, but one that would blend into the background. All three kids turn to see a girl with black wavy long hair, amber sharp eyes, and a black bow on her head.

The new girl had a light olive complexion, some light-purple eye shadow flaring backwards that complemented her eyes. Jaune noticed that her eyes seemed more tilted upwards at the ends, almost like...a cat's. He brushed it off. Black low heeled boots, stockings that start off black at her hips, but gradually fade to purple as they go near her shoes.

On the outside of her stockings there were white symbols, Jaune recognized them as belladonna flowers, he started to wonder what significance they were to the girl. Black ribbons on her arms, a detached sleeve to match and a sliver band on her left arm. She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails and a white sleeveless undershirt that exposed her midriff.

White shorts that may be connected to her shirt as well. The shorts had zippers on the front of each leg and she wore a detached scarf-like collar around her neck. Jaune got a strange vibe from the girl, almost if he's seen her before. Was it on a past excursion with Cap? Or was it somewhere else, wherever it was he couldn't remember.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." the new girl explained, Jaune turned his eyes back to the now known Weiss Schnee and smiled.

"So you really are a Snow Princess, cool!" he praised, the Heiress rolled her eyes in annoyance. But that binge of pink didn't go unnoticed. Once the new girl locked eyes with Jaune, she flinched ever so slightly, if you'd blink you would've missed it.

"They are in fact, one of _the_ largest producers of energy propellant in the world." she tried not to stare at Jaune, the boy raised an eyebrow and quietly watched.

"Finally some recognition!" she smiles lightly, but the mystery girl cut her off.

"The same company infamous for it's controversial labor forces and questionable business partner." she ends with a jab, Jaune and Ruby snicker quietly as the Heiress turns red.

"How dare-!"

"Burn." Jaune quietly states. Ruby laughs even more.

"The nerve of you!" Weiss shouts indignantly, with that she reached forward and snatched the vial away from the girl. The Heiress turns on her heel and stocks away, filled with attitude and anger. Her dress picking up in the wind. A couple of average butlers came to pick up the mess. The Arc decided lend a helping hand, he picked up a case and handed it to a rather old butler. He leans over and whispers,

"She's got you working day'n'night huh?" the man exhales,

"You have **no** idea." the two share a laugh as they resume cleaning the cases. Jaune could hear Ruby shouting behind him, a plea if you will.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" she calls out to the fleeing heiress. She sighs deeply, "Guess I'm not the only who's having a rough first day." she exclaims in sadness.

The boy walked over to his friend and planted a hand on her dark hair. His hand almost encompassing her entire head, "Come on Rubes. Let's leave the Snow Princess be." Ruby looked up at the tall boy with a bittersweet smile before accepting his offer.

Ruby sharply turns around and notices that their new friend was already walking down her own path; alone and quiet, almost disappearing all together. The small girl frowned at that, "I guess she like being alone." she muttered softly, Jaune hummed in response. He looks over one last time and contemplates deeply,

"Yeah...I guess so." came his thoughtful response.

Where have I seen that girl!, he shouted in his mind. The boy shook his head and started to walk in a random direction. Anywhere but here would be better, even though he didn't have the slightest clue as to where they needed to go.

The two were now walking down a random sidewalk, next to them was a pond, and freshly cut grass could be smelled off in the distance. An awkward silence fell over the students as the already exhausted the pool of jokes that spawned from their past ordeal. Jaune giggled,

"Hehe, crater face."

Ruby jumped at that, she didn't like the name at all.

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!" she repeated for the second time today, Jaune had to stifle his laugh. Ruby Rose was such a breath of fresh air; she was approachable, easy to talk to, funny, and a tad bit childish. But she was the perfect friend. She seemed to happy being here, whilst everyone he's meet so far seem to have some sort of package that they've been carrying. Albeit Yang, he couldn't figure out that girl's problem yet. But I've only met like...3 other people, I can't judge yet.

He gazed over at Ruby and noticed her biting her lip, she wanted to say something but didn't know what to say. Jaune decided to speak up, maybe he could learn more about that crazy weapon of hers.

"So what is that scythe gun thingy actually?" he pointed to the gun. The girl unleashed it and implanted the point into the ground,

"Oh, well, this retractable High Caliber Sniper Scythe is a customizable weapon that deals heavy damage with each round . Made by yours truly." she bowed, showing her excellence with crafting. Jaune's eyes grew two sizes, he moved closer and touched to smooth end of the Scythe.

"How did you compensate for the weight? I mean, if swung wrong, this thing could literally break your arm." he asked, Ruby looked rather impressed by his statement, rarely did people ask about her weapons perks, people would just ask her things like: Is it heavy? Or, Where do the bullets go? and so on. Merely easy to answer questions.

"I-I borrowed the design from my teacher but changed a few thing from the original design. I wanted it to be balanced so a made my own material. A mix between Aluminum and Titanium, and that was the blade. I applied some to the body of Crescent Rose and tweaked the weight of the sniper rifle, I played around with some designs but in the end I found that ideal sweet spot. And BOOM! Here we are."

"That's sick!" he praised. She blushed a bit and started to fiddle with her skirt bashfully.

Then she started to cuddled with her weapon, which was kinda disturbing to Jaune. But her analysis of her weapon was pretty ingenious, if he'd say so himself. Crazy design though. The scythe wielder started to become curious and pointed to his back.

"Yeah I know. So what do you got?" she asked, moving in a bit closer so she can get a better look of the weapon. Jaune smiled, my turn for show-n-tell. He grabbed his concealed shield and hooked his hands through the straps. Feeling comfortable with the weight and feel of his weapon, well one of his weapons.

"Not much, just this shield." he pulled the straps and the shield snapped into it's entirety, no longer looking like a multilayered triangle.

"Woooww!" she swooned, her eyes regaining that glow from before. "What's it made out of?" her voice was dripping with curiosity and wonder. Jaune smirked,

"A highly valuable metal called Vibranium."

"SHUT UP!" she gasped in disbelief and shock, her eyes turning into saucers. Jaune's smirk turned into a smile, a cheeky smile, "NO WAY!?"

"Yes way." he responded calmly, "My teacher asked a few favors and was able to get the metal just in time. Guessing you already know, Vibranium absorbs sounds and kinetic energy, all of which are present in combat."

"THAT"S SO COOL!" she cheered and squealed like a girl in the mall. Just substitute the mall for a gun instead. "Is it super light!? I've heard that Vibranium weapons were super light, but super durable as well!" Jaune passed over the shield to Ruby, she gladly grabbed it and started to feel for it's weight. Her mouth opened wide when her theory proved right.

"Awwweessoommee."

Jaune laughed, never has he seen such a reaction before. He asked for the shield back and attached it to the magnet on his back. "Oh, and on my back there's a magnet. So if I ever get tired of carrying it...I can just...you know. Also in my gauntlets I placed magnets as well." he purposely added that piece of information, wondering if Ruby would grow curious.

"Why?" she asked, he smiled back mischievously.

"Let's save that for another time. Don't want to reveal all my secrets now right?" he shrugged. Ruby pouted cutely and drifted towards the sword.

"And that?" he pulled out the medium length blade, yellow and shining.

"Ah, this bad boy? My family calls it the Yellow Death."

He pulled the sword into his line of sight, the shiny metal was spotless; giving off his reflection as well. He sheathed the blade and pulled his only gun. "And lastly, my custom made Five-Seven pistol." he started evaluating his weapon, turning it around an such. "Almost like you're rifle, customizable, able to fire Dust infused rounds, comes with a silencer and a flashlight." he popped the magazine out and showed Ruby the 10 round clip. She made an "Oooohhh" sound with her lips.

With that he placed it back into his calf holster, he turned to Ruby and could've sworn that drool was coming out of her mouth. She looked so enraptured by his weapons that it was starting to get creepy. She snapped out of her stupor and shook her head, probably noticing his freaked out expression.

"Wow, never thought I'd actually meet someone with a real Vibranium weapon. This is like...a one in an life opportunity for me!" she squealed like a kid who just met his favorite superhero.

He laughed and the two started to walk aimlessly, "Hey, where are we going?" Ruby was confused and she started to notice that the courtyard was completely empty. Jaune looked around too, it was deftly quiet.

"Oh, I dunno, I was following you." he turned, looking for any sign or direction. "Y-you think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court perhaps?" he could hear Ruby laugh lightly. But he was genuinely curious, "Some sort of... recognizable landmark?" Ruby snorted, he frowned,

"Is that a "no"?

"That's a no."

* * *

The two students entered an expansive atrium; once inside they were greeted a vast majority of random students. The two stopped when they heard Yang Xiao Long shout, "Hey Ruby! I saved you a spot!" she smiled and waved to get her sister's attention. Ruby gestured for Jaune to follow, he didn't really mind anyway.

He missed the green eyes of certain student that was standing behind him.

Ruby stood beside Yang while Jaune hung out beside the sisters. Keeping to himself as the sibling spoke, "How's your first day going, little sister?" Yang jubilantly asked, Ruby merely scoffed and crossed her arms like a petulant child.

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?! You! Ditched me! Plain and simple!" she stomped her foot in anger. Yang merely frowned,

"Yikes. Meltdown already?" Ruby clicked her tongue,

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! There was fire...a-and I think some ice?" her answer sound ridiculous but it was the truth. Yang turned to the silent Jaune as he seemed to be dead quiet, merely looking at all the students, it was like he was looking for someone. She jabbed him with her elbow to get his attention,

"Hey, did my lil' sister really blow up?" Jaune shrugged his shoulder with a new newfound innocence.

"I'm staying out of this." he brought hands up in a display of surrender. Yang squinted her eyes and turned back to Ruby.

"Are you being sarcastic?" she smirked at her younger sister, for some reason this starting to sound more and more like a joke. Ruby snorted and started to rant,

"Ugh I wish!" with the roll of her eyes, "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage. And then she yelled at me! And then I sneezed; exploded and the girl started yelling at me again! And I felt really, really bad! And I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!" she sounded like she was on the verge of tears,

"YOU!" Weiss Schnee shouted, Ruby jumped into her sister's arms Scooby Doo style and shouted: "Oh god it's happening agaaain!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" she shouted indignantly, Yang's eyes dilated,

"Oh my god, you actually exploded."

"It was an accident, an accident!" Ruby leaped from her sister's arms and pleaded with the girl. Weiss shoved a pamphlet into the scythe wielder's face and started reciting a momo or a prerecorded message. Whatever it was, it was long, boring, and really confusing for Ruby to understand. "Uhhh.." Weiss exhaled through her nose,

"You really want to start making things up to me?" the question sounded a tab bit forgiving, Ruby nodded and meekly answered,

"Absolutely."

Weiss shoved the pamphlet into her hands.

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again." quick and ferocious, damn,

Yang sighed, clearly she looked at the situation and thought it was unhealthy to begin with, so the big sister as she was, she decided to fix the problem herself. She flipped her fiery mane straight and clapped her hands together,

"Look, it sounds like you two just... got off on the wrong foot! Why don't you just start over and try to be friends, okay!" Ruby smiled, she extended her hand out for Weiss to shake, wanting to make amends and start over.

"Yeah! Great idea, sis!" she cleared her throat and began, "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!?" Weiss threw her hands up in mock excitement, clearly not wanting to affiliate with the girl at all.

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, and try on new clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and...scraggly over there!" she jabs a finger to the out of place Jaune Arc, who snaps at the sound of him being described.

"Wha?" he quietly murmurs, Ruby releases a breath of relief, thinking that maybe, just maybe, she might've gotten a new friend.

"Wow, really!"

Weiss looks at the girl with a deadpan look and simply says: "**NO**." And the conversation instantly dies.

After a couple of minutes Jaune could see Professor Ozpin and Glynda make their way onto the stage. The Headmaster tapped the microphone to see if it was operational and to his relief it was. He coughed to get the people's attention.

"Ahem...I'll... keep this brief." he wet his lips and continued, "You have traveled her today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people.

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy..."

This strikes a cord in room, students furrow the brows, frown their lips, some even scowl. But not Jaune, he merely shoot back his own unwavering gaze back at Ozpin who in fact made eye contact with him. But only for a split second.

"...in need of purpose, direction. And I believe, at level you're at now, if you were thrown into a life or death situation...you'd probably not come back alive."

The room became deadly silent. Not a pin drop could be heard from the audience. Jaune gulped, It could be said that he was one of those unlucky few that would survive. But for some reason he felt weak in the knees, he tapped his leg and the shaking stopped.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will show you, that knowledge can only carry you so far." he paused and scanned the room with a void gaze.

"It is up to you to take the first step. Just like a child learning how to walk, you _will_ stumble, and you _will_ fall, but... will you **get up**?" he backed away from the mic and makes his off stage right. Glynda Goodwitch takes up the mic once the man exited the building, silent as ever, his speech being the most foreboding thing Jaune's ever heard.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins.

Be ready."

And with that she dismisses the students for the day. Jaune decided to get the jump on Weiss; see if he could get a few brownie points in before the day ended. Yang and Ruby exchanged looks, confused looks.

"He seemed kind of..off" Yang raises an eyebrow,

"Yeah, it's almost like he wasn't even there." concludes Ruby.

"I'm a natural blond, ya know!"

Weiss rubbed her forehead and sighed in an exasperated manner.

* * *

**Later that Night**

"The day for the most part was pretty lackluster. There was this crazy speech, lunch, and here where are now. Getting ready for bed."

Jaune was using the watch Cap had given him during his childhood; right now he was having a face cam conversation with his family, at the moment his mother was at the camera, smiling lovingly at her son.

"Sounds like a hectic day, Jaune. I see you've made a couple friends right of the bat." she answered in a rather questioning tone, one the didn't bode well in his opinion. Nevertheless he smiled back before rolling his eyes,

"Yes, mom. I have, so far, they've been pretty nice to me. How's it by you?" he asked, his mother cupped her chin and started mumbling something,

"Well, your sisters are driving me mad and your dad's off on another mission. Says he won't be back for a couple of weeks." she starts rubbing her arms, his mother was shivering.

"It's snowing up there?" ask Jaune in excitement, his mom nodded and flicked her index finger up.

"It started not too long ago. Ever since then it's been snowing nonstop. It's starting to become a pain in the ass." his mother openly cursed, something that was more or less normal nowadays. Jaune snickered,

"You got them shoveling the road now, huh?"

She exhaled a cold breath and hummed in response, Jaune read the time at the top of the screen and cursed. He wanted to speak with his mother a little more, catch her up on current events, but the Freshmen had a curfew that was enforced at a specific time. He reluctantly turned back to his mother and continued,

"Hey mom,"

"Yeah?"

"I've-I've gotta go." his voice was dripping with disappointment and sadness, his was starting to dip downwards, showing full well of his emotions

One would say Jaune Arc was homesick.

The mother knew exactly what was happening to her only son, so in a vain effort she muster the best smile she could. A motherly smile. Ever since that _incident_ Jaune's being feeling empty inside for awhile, she could see on his face clear as day. He wanted to come home. But he wanted to pursue his dream, the two opposing desires clashed frequently, but in the end he decided to keep pursuing his goal.

"I love you, Jaune." tender and sweet words vibrated his heart. He sighed,

"Me too mom. Tell everyone I said hi, okay?"

"Will do. Have a nice night, my dear."

"Yeah...bye." his voice dipped to low volumes and he hit the "End Call" button. The video fed closes and Jaune was staring face to face with the floor. His emotions were a jumbled mess; so he decided to touch the all too familiar feeling of soft bristles on his onesie; a gift from his sisters and suddenly a wave of relief washed over his body. Every night he wore this ridiculous pajama. He needed some piece of home after the Signal Massacre.

And this was it.

Stitched by his youngest sisters, Jaune enjoyed his bunny onesie to the fullest. Even sleeping in it for days on end without washing it. Luckily he washed it before he came to Beacon.

That would just be plain embarrassing, would it?

Jaune could hear soft muttering behind him so he turned, he could see Ruby and Yang standing and talking to the mystery girl from earlier today. He shut out all the background noise and focused in on their conversation.

"I love books." Ruby softly stated, "Yang used to read to me every night before bed." she closed her eyes and inhaled,

"I remember crazy stories; stories of heroes, monsters, princesses, they're one of the reasons why I want to become a Huntress."

The girl chuckled and shifted in her seat, "Why's that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?" she scoffed and blinked, expecting an answer, and a good one at that.

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like the heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right and someone who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

A memory flashed through his mind, one where he was fighting a bully twice his size, every time he'd get hit or knocked down, he'd bounce right back up. He remembers the girl he protected, long bunny ears and chestnut hair.

"Those were the days." he mumbled to himself. But his face started to harden as recent memories started to come back to him. White Fang, the Massacre, poverty, death. The path of a hero is paved in so much blood, he thought. He looked at his hands and imagined them stained with crimson.

"That's very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." The raven haired girl laid the book down and sighed, "It's cruel, harsh, and unforgiving at times."

Ruby smiled at that, "It's also filled with beautiful things. And besides, that's why we're here right...to make it better." words of wisdom,

"More like words of hope." Jaune mumbled under his breath.

Yang strolled over to her sister and bear hugged her off the ground, "Oh I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Ruby blushed and grit her teeth, the scythe wielder wound her fist back and aim it a Yang's head.

"Cut it out!" She swung, and what transpired was a big dust cloud of playful fighting. Jaune chuckled as he watched the whole debacle before him, he noticed that the girl started to smile.

"Well, Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure to meet-"

"What in the world is going on over here!"

And here comes the Snow Princess, he thought.

"Do realize some of us are trying to sleep?!" roared the pissed off Heiress, she turned and noticed Ruby and Yang

"Oh, not you again!" shouted Weiss and Yang in unison. Ruby frantically shushed the two loud girls in a quick attempt to not get in trouble,

"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are seriously trying to sleep!"

Jaune decided to interject, "Yeah, Its not like we have an initiation to do tomorrow!" he shouted, all four girl blushed in embarrassment. They turned and all of them glared in Jaune's direction. He merely took two fingers and saluted to the girls before snuggling up in his sleeping bag.

"Oh now you're on my side!"

"I was always on your side!"

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister!?"

"She's a hazard to my health!"

And with that Blake Belladonna blew out the candles, enveloping the entire room in darkness. Thus ending everyone's first day at Beacon Academy.

* * *

**SO sorry for delay guys. Like I said, The Witcher 3 has consumed my life. And I'm sorry for such a filler chapter, it's long and rather slow but if you stick with it you'll be happy. Gonna work hard on the Initiation, Jaune's gonna impress a few characters. I'm going some where with the Signal Massacre if you can't tell. **

**Stay tuned for more awesome chapter.**

**Please review and tell me what you think. Amateur author here, could really, really use a beta read. **

**Please PM me if you're interested.**

**Until next time.**


	5. Steps in the right direction

There was ash, lots of ash. Why was it circling me? Uh...It...it doesn't matter, all that matters is the immense pain I'm feeling. My arms, legs, and body hurtb really bad. Unbearably bad. My lungs are on fire and my arms are all purple and bloody...why?

_Why am I hurting_...**so much**?

I left my head up from the ground; my body seemingly sprawled out on the floor. I grit my teeth and ride out the sharp pinches of pain that make my body cringe. That's when I looked up.

Fire. Orange fire. Everywhere. The flames surrounded me like a prison, no immediate escape in sight. I started to hack due to the lack of oxygen.

My hearing was almost nonexistent, I could only pick up the faint ringing sound in my ears, a constant ringing sound. Nothing more.

But I could hear something._ More like...someone._

I turn my head in search of the sound, my eyes soon pick up on the blurry outline of a figure standing not too far away from me. I squint my eyes, trying desperately focus them. Slowly, the figure becomes visible,

It looked like Abe. Abraham...my childhood friend.

It looked like he was..._screaming_. Shouting something at the top of his lungs.

"A-Abe..." I groan.

I extend my trembling hand out for help, my fingers stretched out for him to grab but he doesn't come.

He just...shouts,

_And shouts,_

My hearing is coming around, but I can only make out my name.

"Jau...Jaune...Jaune!"

The energy escapes me and my arms drops limply to the ground. My face dips low to the floor, a few coughs escape my throat.

I swung my head up to see him again, Abe looked...scared, frightened beyond what I've ever seen.

He's now sweeping his arms around, almost if he's...warning me of something.

I could only read his lips,

"AWAY! Ge...GET AWAY!"

Suddenly a wave of flames starts charging behind Abe, he turns and is suddenly engulfed in the red hot inferno. My eyes dilate when I realize it's not stopping.

I bring my arm up in a dull attempt to protect myself from the flames. As the searing heat comes closer to my body I start to close my eyes.

_Accepting my death_.

* * *

**Initiation Day**

"IT'S MORING! IT'S MORING! ITTT'S MOOORINNNGGG!" a bubbly and really loud voice wakes up Jaune and a boy adjacent to his sleeping bag. The blonde wakes up with a start, literally bolting upright from his bag. His breathing was heavy and his heart was pounding loudly in his chest. He looks around, trying to make sure that the world he was in was reality. Luckily, to his relief it was.

He gripped his chest and started to take deep breaths, very deep, calming breaths. Cold sweat started to drip down his brow as his heart rate started to steadily decline, he closed his eyes and sucked in one final breath.

"It...was just a dream." he mutters quietly to himself. Jaune turned to his side and saw a boy with sharp features, black hair with a pink strand sticking out from the others, and a green oriental outfit that fit his very nature. While the girl standing next to him had orange hair, a bubbly and WAY too energetic attitude, with a sliver and pick outfit with a heart in the naval.

Jaune groaned deeply, then racked his hands through his messy blonde hair. "Uhh..." He started to tune out the loud and constant noise coming from the bombastic girl next to him and started wrapping up his bag.

What a dream, he thought.

He recalled the choking air, Abraham shouting for him to move, and the prison of fire. He gulped,

It's similar to how he actually disappeared,

On a mission long past, Jaune and Abe were partners; a "dynamic duo" as Cap called them. They were sent out on countless missions, and to keep a long story short, Jaune fucked up. He made a mistake. A fatal flaw in his plan that cost the life of one of his dearest and oldest friends.

There hasn't been a day gone by that I forget what I did.

He exhaled through his nose,

"That was all in the past. Things are different now! I'm stronger than what I was before. I can protect my friends now." he whispered under his breath.

Jaune tightened the knot on his sleeping bag and gathered his belongings.

"Time for breakfast. I'm sure as hell gonna need it." he rubbed his hand against his face in an exhausted manner before leaving.

The boy strolled down the hall to the cafeteria in silence, usually Jaune would talk to himself but he was too drowsy to do even that. He even walked right by Ruby and her sister, it wasn't until he heard his name being shouted that he stopped.

"Yo Vomit Boy!" it was Yang, Jaune grimaced at that, but turned around anyway.

"Ha ha, very funny. Can you stop with the name!?" he pleaded,

Yang merely smiled and hopped her way over to the boy.

"Now why would I do that, its just waayyy too funny to give up." she quipped while displaying a very shit-eating grin. He sighed,

"Very reassuring, Yang." he deadpanned, Ruby ran up to the two and beamed brightly.

"Mornin' Jaune ready for today's Initiation?" the scythe wielder's chipper tone made Jaune raise an eyebrow.

"Pssh, as I'll ever be. But first, let's get something to eat! I can't fight on an empty stomach." he made a gun with his finger and pointed to the messhall. Yang threw an heavy arm over his shoulder and pulled the boy close to her hot body.

"You and me both huh!" Jaune blushed, he was way too close in proximity to the huge assets that Yang had. He averted his eyes and looked desperately at Ruby. His lips quivering, he mouthed 'help.'

"Oh come on you guys!" she rolled her eyes and marched ahead of the group, causing the two to move along behind her.

Jaune grabbed a plate with a nice set of eggs, toast and bacon. The mere smell of it all made the boy salivate a little bit, he spotted the girls and made his way over to them. He enjoyed the sights of all the other students talking a chattering,

Until his peripheral vision caught the sight of a leg sticking out.

He tripped,

But he switched the plate over to his left hand and toss it up into the air. As he gained momentum in his fall he quickly initiated a front-to-back cartwheel and popped off in an backflip. He reached up and grabbed the plate at the exact time as he planned. He moved the tray side to side to get a few fruit pieces here and there and snatched a bacon strip with his mouth right out of the sky.

He started to chew on his bacon before turning around to confront his aggressor. It was a burly and heavy teenager two sizes bigger than Jaune. He had a nasty scowl on his face and looked like he wanted to deck Jaune straight in the nose,

He's probably disappointed that I didn't fall on my face, he thought.

He decided to give the over muscular jock a cheeky grin with a bacon strip still in his mouth. He even waved at the boy, to show that his intention to harm him failed miserably.

"Tch!" the boy sucked his teeth and turned around in his seat. Jaune snorted, "Heh, asshole." and resumed his walk to the table.

"Thank god I didn't get my juice." he muttered softly. As he got closer to the table he noticed the bewildered and surprised expressions on Yang and Ruby's faces. He looked at them with a confused look,

"What?" he shrugged his shoulders, Yang whistled,

"Who knew Vomit boy had such sick moves!" shouted Yang

"Nice flip, Jaune!" Ruby congratulated the boy, Jaune itched his hair in embarrassment,

"Naw it was nothing! I do that all the time." he casually stated. Yang and Ruby exchanged a look and said: "Oohhh."

He took his seat and resumed eating his food,

"Hey, can I have your juice?" he taps the kid next to him.

It was the boy from before, his face had a straight and an almost exhausted expression. He sighed, then reached over and grabbed his juice box lightly with his fingertips and passed it over to Jaune without looking,

"Sure." came his exasperated response and dropped it on onto his tray.

Jaune gave the boy one of his signature smiles, a bright toothy smile to show his gratitude, he thanked the great Creator for his perfect teeth. "Thanks." he muttered. He popped the straw in the hole and sucked on the straw. He could hear the crazy girl from before sitting beside the black haired boy. He raised an eyebrow and extended his neck to catch a glimpse of said her; her plate was filled with atleast six pancakes!_ DAAMNNN_

He grinned at that as she bombarded the boy with words, a constant stream of words. Something about teams. Jaune rolled his eyes and turned to the right, Yang and Ruby were talking animatedly about something, he didn't know what and decided not to intrude. He simply enjoyed his food in comfortable silence.

"Hey Jaune," he turned, it was Ruby, she was smiling up at him while she was half chewing her food. He snapped from his stupor,

"Yeah?"

"You heard anything about teams?" she asked rather shyly, almost if the mere idea irked her. He shook his head in disapproval,

"Nope. Not a single thing." he stabbed an seasoned egg and raised it to his mouth,

"You nervous...or anything?" she shifted in embarrassment, he bit down on his fork and chewed his food.

"Wh-why would I be?" he managed to say with a full mouth. Ruby huffed and turned back to her tray with nervous eyes. Her sliver pupils were shifting back and forth in their sockets, almost if the food had some secret message lying within it.

"I-I don't know...I'm not really good, if you can tell, with... talking to other people." she mumbled timidly, Jaune swallowed his food and looked at the girl with a straight face. He knew that that statement was utterly false.

"Ruby, you'll be _okay_. If anything...you're actually fun to be around with." he admitted, Ruby's eyes grew wide as she stared deeply into Jaune's eyes, a pink blush could be seen on her cheeks, and shock was clearly evident on her face. He merely smiled, "And from what I saw a couple days back, _you can fight_. I mean seriously, you were like some crazy ninja chick back there. Swinging that scythe around like WACHooo!"

He made a funny ninja pose and Ruby chuckled, the worry in her eyes left and her shoulders slackened. Her entire body was tense before, but now it was loose.

"Yeah, I was pretty cool back there wasn't I." she'll never admit it, but that encouraging comment stoked her tiny ego.

Jaune just laughed and resumed eating. Yang pulled her sister close to her body, to the point that their cheeks were smashed up against each other.

"You heard it from Vomit Boy, you'll do fine Rubes!" she swayed back and fro, Ruby grimaced and tried to forcibly push her way out of Yang's death grip. She was choking the life out of her.

"Get-get off me Yang!"

A vein twitched in Jaune's forehead, "Could you please stop calling me that." he grumbled.

* * *

**Later,**

_Why in god's name would they give me this locker? _He itched his head in mild confusion as he shuffled through the many aisles of lockers in the Prep Room. Initiation was only minutes away and he couldn't find his equipment. He blow a misaligned strand of hair out of his eyesight as he shifted his gaze from number to number, _geez._ The students he's met over the last couple of days were present in the room as well.

Off to the right, Yang and Ruby were arguing about something, _can't hear what it is though. _Across from that was a red haired girl mingling with Weiss, _wonder what those two are talking about. _And the two oddities he met in the morning, _man are those two loud! _His eyes shifted back and forth between the high numbers, _3 digits, 4 digits, uhh...my head hurts._

"This is-"

"RIDICULUS!" two voices overlap, showing how utterly pissed off each individual was.

Ruby slammed a locker door shut while Jaune shouted at the paper.

"You'd think I'd remember to count that high," he reprimanded himself as he passed another locker.

The entire room felt cold on Jaune's skin, almost if the necessary temperature needed to be below 75 degrees, he rubbed his right arm in a feeble attempt to warm up his body. He soon passed by Weiss and out of the corner of his eyes he noticed that the Heiress was talking to the tall girl rather quietly, suspiciously, almost if she was plotting something far more sinister. Too concentrated on the offhand conversation he failed to notice the broad shoulder in front of him.

He collided with the wall of meat and metal with a thund,

_Ow. _He hissed and rubbed his head as he turned in front of him to see a mountain of armor. His head started to move upwards until his eyes made contact with dark blue pupils. The kid started to curse under his breath profusely until he finally acknowledge Jaune.

"Watch where you're going, pipsqueak!" he bellowed, Jaune bashfully rubbed his hair, _I recognize him,_ he remembers the orange slick back hair and sharp jaw features, the always scowling face on a humongous body shape. Jaune kept his mouth shut, he already labeled this kid as a certified bully. _But I need to get out of here, not planning to start a stupid fight!_

"Sorry, sorry! I wasn't paying attention, silly me!" he laughed humorlessly and turned around. _I don't like that guy_. He frowns as his walks away from the huge individual who was muttering a string of small curses under his breath, he soon notices something, like an ominous electric purple cloud looming behind Weiss Schnee.

She had a nasty mischievous smile on her face, one that didn't suit her well._ Let's get rid of that evil look shall we? A cute like that shouldn't be tarnished. _Jaune made a quick plan inside his mind, and with a devilish smirk he initiated step 1.

_Intercept the conversation...but do it cool._

He heard them talking about teams again, _what is with everybody and teams! _He placed his hand on the locker in a suave motion and chimed himself into the conversation. _Fine I'll use this rumor to my advantage!_

"You know what else is cool? Me. Jaune Arc. Wanna join my team?" he declared as macho as possible. He could only imagine the adorable shock filled face on Weiss, she turned around and crossed her arms, waiting impatiently for him to leave. _I was spot on wasn't I_? _That cute reaction speaks for itself._

"Uh you again?" she glared at him and pinched the bridge of her nose. The red haired girl from before popped her head in between the two them and waved politely.

"Nice to meet you Jaune." He smiled at the redheaded girl. She had a regal and powerful visage that screamed of combat experience and strength, but also an aura of beauty and elegance, her gear reminded him of a Spartan, gold and bronze armor shining brightly in the room, covered up the majority of her body and a red ankle length drapery wrapped around her skirt. She raised her hand up in calm and composed manner, something Jaune admired. _Wow she's just...wow!_

But he remembered something,_ is she from Sanctum?_

He extended his rather stiff arm out to the girl, who accepted it in kind, Jaune could feel the muscles and the callouses in her small palm as the two shook hands. _She's strong...very very strong._ He looked at the girl with an inquisitive look as he tried to decipher her name, he concentrated hard but to his relief Weiss decided to interject.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos." she introduced with an extravagant display, as if she was presenting a king to a mere commoner. His eyes lit up in realization, _ohmygod it's actually her! _He rubbed his hair and whistled a light gay tone that showed how taken aback really he was.

"Never thought I'd actually meet the Spartan of Sanctum Academy." he laminated, he even bowed his head ever so slightly. Pyrrha looked impressed with her hands on her hips and a little smirk. _Yeah, I know a thing or two about your infamous reputation at Sanctum._ Weiss gave Jaune an indirect smug smile as she resumed her introduction,

"Indeed. So you _do _know about the four consecutive wins Pyrrha has made, A new record mind you." she closed her eyes and scoffed, he smirked,

"Yeah, and I also saw you on the front of Pumpkin Pete's." he winked confidently as a little pink hue appeared on her cheeks. _Shitty cereal by the way._

"Yeah, it was pretty cool, but the cereal tasted like cardboard." she chuckled bashfully, Weiss put her hands on her hips with a huff and walked over to him with a conceited attitude. Jaune used Weiss' pride to his advantage and switch gears back onto her, and with the swing of his arm he decided to ask the question yet again.

"Now, I know everyone _must_ be gunning for almighty Pyrrha Nikos, but I decided to give the fortunate opportunity to certain Snow Princess," he pointed a finger directly at her heart and smirked with false confidence. _I hope she doesn't see though my façade, these girls just make me so goddamn nervous! _It was evident on Weiss' face that she was starting to grow tired of him, but he had to test his luck.

She groaned irritably, "Forget it Jaune! You know, you must have some nerve asking someone like me!" came her self righteous reply. "Let along Pyrrha, do you really think you're in a position to ask any of us?!" Jaune retracted his arm abruptly and glared at Weiss, something snapped within him. He was starting to get angry, and Weiss could see it through his blank expression.

He reigned in his fury like a leash on a dog and scoffed at the Heiress. And with a calm, almost terrifying, demeanor he shared his piece, "Yes," Weiss step back, her eyes looking at him with confusion and curiosity. Or was it fear? For three seconds she swallowed her pride and allowed the boy to defend his case.

"Yes, I do, Weiss. I don't treat my peers any different than my friends." her eyes grew, and her breath hitched, "I give respect sure, but just because you're the Heiress of some famous company doesn't mean you're _above_ anybody else. You're in the same boat as everybody here. A _freshmen_. A mere freshmen that's going through initiation." he finished,

Weiss Schnee had a look of pure shock, no one has _ever_ lectured her like that, aside _family_, no one has _ever_ put her in her place _like that, _more or less someone from the same age group. So she scowled, because _that_ was the only thing she knew how to do, or _could_ do. Scowl. Anger started to boil within her,

"How dare you-Do you realize who you're talking to!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, the entire locker room went eerie quiet. Everyone turned to see what the commotion was about. Weiss started to become self-conscious about her surroundings, Jaune stood his ground. Pretending that he and her were the only two people in the universe. He stepped close, into her private bubble and gazed into her icy blue eyes. _Reminds me of a fresh blanket of snow on a winter morning._ He reminisced for a second, and released through his nose.

"Yes. Right now I'm talking _Weiss Schnee._ AKA Snow Princess, and I am inviting her onto my soon-to-be team." came his honest answer, his face unwavering and strong, her eyes were running back and forth between his. And that's when the red blush appeared on her cheeks, red spots of embarrassment for the world to see. Jaune smiled, almost lovingly at Weiss. But it was more of an inviting smile, one that said "come on it'll be fun!"

Weiss was on the verge of exploding, but she couldn't. The Schnee _never_ lose their composure. The Schnee _always_ stay poised and calm.

So Weiss did the most mature and effective thing a Schnee would to do.

"Idiot," she whispered,

she insulted him.

"What was-"

"You're an idiot Jaune Arc." with a hint of malice, she reached for her weapon and briskly walked towards the exit.

The room returned back to it's original homeostasis, kids got their weapons, doors opening and closing, and the click of combat boots echoed throughout the room. He sighed deeply before aiming his gaze at the gray floor. He exhaled out his mouth and unclenched his fist, his nerves under control, Jaune tried to make do with the fragile situation and lit the fire for another conversation, he turned to Pyrrha,

"Sooo Pyrrha," he did a small electric slide over to the Spartan, "Wanna join team Jaune? A spot just opened open...heheh." his voice was filled with a hint of melancholy and failure, _you couldn't get a simple friend to join your team, Jaune, you really do suck. _He sucked his teeth, expecting a clear rejection, but a hand, a gentle hand made it's way onto his shoulder,

It was Pyrrha's

"I think you'll make a fine leader, Jaune." her response was openended but it did the job. It lifted his spirit, so he looked up at the emerald eyed girl and smiled halfheartedly.

"Really?" his voice uncertain of if he should deserve such a title, she nodded. The Spartan left Jaune to his thoughts and smiled at the corner of her lips.

_Wait, she didn't say no._

"So is that a yes?!" he shouted after her,

She merely smirked before strolling down the path with a swagger in her step.

Jaune planted himself on the bench and ruffled his hair in aggravation._ Maybe I'm destined to be alone? _But two miracles walked up to him,

"Having some trouble there, ladykiller?" it was Yang, her voice low almost condescending as she strolled up to Jaune's side. He rolled his eyes and snorted,

"Dad said that all women look for is _confidence_," he air quoted the word and shook his head in disbelief, "Where did I go wrong." Ruby moved over to his right and sat down beside him,

"Snow Princess wasn't a good start." chided Yang, Jaune snorted,

"Thanks for the help Sunshine!" Ruby inwardly flinched,

"You did not just say that." she muttered,

"Sunshine! Ohoho, Vomit Boy that _better_ not be my nickname!" she threatened rather sultry, Jaune cupped his chin,

"Matter of fact, no it's not. Still looking for one though." he retorted with attitude, "...what about...Sunfire?" he tested the word,_ I kinda like it! _

Yang cupped her chin as she went into a thoughtful reverie, probably testing the word on her tongue, rolling it around and applying it to everyday life. "I...I like that! I think we have a winner folks!" she applauded lightly, Ruby and Jaune had to chuckle at that, but the scythe wielder pouted instantly,

"How come I don't get a nickname!?" she puffed out her cheeks like a petulant child's, an expression that made him blush pink, _man is she so damn cute! _

_"Attention! All First Year students please report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation! All for First Year students report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation! Thank you."_ a warning in the shape of Glynda Goodwitch's voice blasted through the Locker Room intercom, alerting everyone to hurry the hell up and go, students quickly and abruptly slammed shut their doors and ran for the exit, probably in fear of the wrath the will befall them if Goodwitch ever found out they skipped.

Ruby offered a hand to Jaune which he gladly accepted, she huffed him up and the three students walked to the door.

"Come on Jaune, you can think of a nickname later." there was a pause,

"Besides...I like Rubes."_ if it really was a nickname._

She smiled,

* * *

The green lush fields of Beacon Cliff swayed in the easy early autumn breeze, the notorious cliff dipped off into the Emerald Forest. A forest known for it's dangerous wildlife and Grimm population. A place you don't want to be trap in over night. The weather was clear, no clouds, the sun wasn't beating down on them, fortunately, and it was the perfect day for a test.

_Why it has to be a life or death evaluation...I have no idea._

Jaune was standing on a wide metal platform, it had the school's insignia on it, two axes crossing each other, and so was the entire first year line up. Ruby was standing adjacent to him as she gazed out into the forest. The girl started biting her lip nervously, Jaune's face hardened a little at that. _Is she still nervous? _He shook his head, blaming it on his imagination, he evaluated the immense field of greenery and huffed an exasperated breath.

"For once could we like...not risk our lives?" his tone condescending, Ruby turned to him and smiled timidly,

"Yeah, for once right?" her voice trembled slightly, Jaune smirked but his lips went straight as Ozpin started his rehearsed speech.

"For years you have been training to become warriors; and today your abilities will be tested in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure you've all been aware of the rumor of teams, well let us end your confusion for good," interjected Goodwitch,

Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc sweatdropped and audibly gulped.

"You'll be put into teams _today._" said Glynda with finality in her voice,

Ruby groaned in a low undertone, while Jaune bit his lips. He could feel it about to burst,

"These teammates will be with you throughout your four years here at Beacon,"

_Rather suspenseful much? _

"So it would be in your best interest to pair up with someone who you will work well with." he continued, Jaune could see Ruby shoving her fingers her hair.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact after your landing will be your partner for the next four years." he dramatically finished,

Jaune could visually see Ruby's world shattering,

_Yeah...she's going to be pissed._

"See! I told you!" came a far off voice,

"After you've partnered up; make your way to the northern part of the forest. You _will_ meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path...or you _will die_.

"Greeaaattt!" Jaune sarcastically droned, "fantastic." he muttered softly

"you all will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. Hoping you've survived, you will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics, each pair must choose item and make their way to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item and grade you appropriately, now...are there any question?"

Jaune didn't hesitate to raise his hands, _why am I trembling?_

"Yeah...uh Profes-"

"GOOD! Now take your positions!" with finality, Jaune dropped his hand and started gawking,

"So no questions..hehe?" he chuckled fearfully,

The lineup shifted into their positions like trained soldiers, while Jaune raised his hand again. _Wait, wait, wait, back up!_

"So uh...this landing strategy you speak of, are you like...dropping us off or _something_?" he laughed pathetically,

"No...you _will_ be falling." came Ozpin's monotone and dark rebuttal.

He almost choked,

_What_?

"Whaattt?" he meekly shouted,

The pads started launching students one by one, slowly making its way to him. But he wasn't paying attention,

"So like, we gonna get parachutes or..."

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." he finished,

The platforms were getting emptier and emptier,

"Sooo what exactly is a landing-STRAAATEEGGYYYYGG!" he was abruptly thrown into the air. More like yanked,

A long scream filled the sky,

Ozpin smiled,

"I wonder what he'll do."

Glynda just frowned,

"I have no idea."

* * *

Jaune released the last bit of breath he had and tapered off his scream. He was literally flying through the air, so he enjoyed it. He liked how the air blasted against his face, blowing his blond hair in the wind, aside from the spike of adrenaline he was feeling, the whole ordeal was rather new. _I can get use to this! _He turned his head, Ruby was fire off shots with her weapon then she extended it and readied herself to latch onto a branch. He turned again, Weiss used some sort of glyph and hopped off it with ease. He looked ahead, Yang was blasting through trees like a one man demolition squad, she was even using her gauntlets to change her directions, firing off shots in either direction to push or flip her body.

He also saw Pyrrha, using her small shield to bash through trees and such, scattering splinters to the four corners of the world. And that's when he realized,

"Oh shit...I went the highest." he looked at the ground below him, _ground coming up fast! _He reached but he was too slow, he entered the tree line and was mere meters away from ground,

_Damn waited too long!_

As he finished his thought process a branch almost clipped his arm, thus forcing him to suck it in, and that's when the idea hit him.

Well not literally,

"My belt!"

Yes, his small utility belt, he quickly reached in and pulled out a thin wire and a dagger, more like a hook, and started tying and wrapping the two together. It work both as a throwing projectile and a grappling device, but right now he needed the hook. He turned his body so his back was facing the ground then putting all his strength into his wrist and left arm he hurled the hook toward a high branch.

"Come on, come on.." he begged,

The wire he tied to the hook worked. It looped around the sturdy branch and tightened, thus swinging his momentum, Jaune started to swing on the wire like if it was a vein in the jungle. He inwardly hoorahed as he swung through the air,

That was until a huge trunk came into his line of vision,

"Oh shit-"

He swerved to the right just barely missing the hunk of wood,

But he didn't account for the other one. His eyes dilated, _this is gonna hurt! _

His ribs collided with the trunk, he roared out in pain as he tumbled and fell to the earth below.

"GAAHH!"

Branch after branch connected with his back and chest as he more or less flipped to the ground. He hissed and groaned with his eyes shut tight, and after five seconds of eating tree he landed.

THUMP!

_Why am I eating dirt?_

"UAHH!" he hollered,

Jaune toke a small breather on the grass, _my first landing strategy, I called that a success. _And with that thought he started to laugh, it was low it first, merely a rumble, but it soon grew to be loud and ear piercing roar.

He laughed maniacally but he shortly stopped his theatrics and started feeling up his body. As if there were some hidden wounds scattered throughout his person, and he sighed in relief when found none,

"Can't believe I'm alive." he whistled, he felt the spot where his armor made contact with the tree. "I love this armor." he smiled and pressed down on the spot lightly,

"Nothing broken or fractured, good." he rose to his feet slowly and checked his surroundings.

"In the middle of nowhere, check." he mimicked the action of checking off a list. Jaune reached for his shield, it was still in it's concealed form, he lifted up and pulled back on the straps; the shield snapped into place and reflected the rays of random light that broke through the canopy.

Gold and sliver, two colors he thought that defined his linage, his family. Sure there were stories that said gold was bad and such but to him, to Jaune, gold felt empowering, compassionate and loving while sliver, sliver felt creative, insightful and passionate. He smiled at his trusty weapon, a weapon that was meant for protection.

_But a mere shield can do far more than just protect._

He attached his weapon to the magnet on his back, then he checked his left thigh, his pistol was still in it's holster, so reached over to his waist, the golden colored sword was sheathed in it's place. He was ready, despite his rough landing, Jaune Arc was ready.

* * *

Minutes Earlier,

Ozpin and Gylnda winced as they saw Jaune collide witha huge tree.

"That must've hurt." he said, she nodded back.

They watched as he plummeted to ground, breaking and snapping branches along the way.

"I'm starting to worry," warned Glynda, Ozpin raised a curious eyebrow,

"Why's that?"

"Did you see his landing strategy?" she exclaimed,

Ozpin chuckled,

"Yes I did, but I also noticed his sharp thinking skills as he started to descend under the tree line." he smirked ever so slightly,

Glynda nodded her head in agreement,

"Despite being in thrown into an unknown situation, Jaune was able to form a clear plan and execute it to it's entirety. Even if half of what he had was pure luck." she scoffed a tad bit, Ozpin merely smiled out into the forest.

"True, luck was indeed in Mr. Arc's favor, but the boy was able to adapt. I clear trait of a leader."

Glynda looked up at him with a look of concern, "Already you're considering him for team leader Professor?"

He sipped his coffee.

"I'm just spitballing here. He hasn't made it back to the cliff, so no I'm not considering him for anything yet."

* * *

Jaune jogged his way though the foliage, the clear goal of finding a relic present in his mind, he slid under a thornbush with precision and vaulted over a broken down log like it was nothing. He then leaped over a small ditch and proceeded into a small nesting ground. He stopped abruptly when he heard a very faint hiss.

His body was still, his ears on full alert, the Arc scanned the bushes and trees, the only thing present was the rustle and whistle of grass and leave. His eyes darted from one area to the next, he moved slowly, as if there was a motion sensor in the area. Jaune turned towards the ground and saw small eggs, four in a group and six inches across.

He recognized the shape,

_What Grimm lays eggs, besides the flying ones?_

And that's when it hit him,

Literally this time.

An unrelenting force collided with his shield sending him flying forward, Jaune arms went out to brace himself but his chest hit the ground first. He winced and shut one of his eyes.

"Gaaa..."

He regained his bearings and looked up at his unknown aggressor, his mind already shifting into combat mode.

And that's when he saw it, a bipedal walking lizard, mixed with a chicken, his books once called these things Dinosaurs. But this was a creature of Grimm, a creature that feed off darkness and fear. It stood almost six feet tall and fifteen feet long, it was covered from head to toe in quills, black quills that flowed in the wind. It's tall was long and sturdy, probably balancing the body, his eyes move to the feet.

_Oh god..._

Two six inch sickle like razor sharp claws on either foot. And that's when he figured it out,

"Raptor." he muttered, his heart started to race, Jaune's eyes looked ahead of him,

"shit." he cursed,

_I've strolled headlong into a Raptor's nest. .LIFE._

The creature's head swiveled in it's socket rapidly almost like a chicken's. It started to sniff the air, probably sensing if this...thing was an intruder. The Grimm made high pitch growling, something that would haunt Jaune's dreams for nights to come. The hairs on it's head started to bristle and stand up signifying how alert and cautious the creature was, Jaune's eyes moved to his right.

_My gun._

The creature made another sharp movement as it readjusted itself, it hissed. A small hiss that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, the gun. The gun was only a couple of inches away from him, all he needed to do was reach out. But this was a game of chicken.

_Who would react first? _

* * *

Ozpin and Glynda had grim expressions, a thick mustache of sweat could be seen on Ozpin's brow. Glynda started biting her finger nervously, a tick she's adopted over the years to deal with intense situations.

"Professor-"

"I see it." he confirmed,

Ozpin sighed and pinched the bridge of his brow,

"Should we send a-"

"NO!" cut off Ozpin suddenly, Glynda looked at him in disbelief,

"Professor, those are _Raptors,_ they are the worst- if not _the_ most dangerous Grimm we know of. They're highly dangerous and lethal killing machines, we have to stop this!" she shouted emotionally,

Ozpin stared at the forest with a dead expression, his scarf picking up in the wind,

"No."

"What?"

He turned back to her,

"No, _we don't intervene._"

Glynda girt her teeth to the point of almost cracking,

"But sir-"

"I KNOW GLYNDA!" he sucked in a breath and calmed himself, Glynda flinched from the sudden outburst,

"I'm terribly sorry about that. But as I was saying, we can't intervene."

Instead of arguing Glynda decided to hypothesize on how they got into the forest. Clearly Ozpin wasn't going to be swayed, and this sudden outburst was nothing like him.

"Usually they never come out this far. So why would they now?" she questioned herself,

"Migration."

She gasped,

"It just so happens that they decided to set up a nest here, and unfortunately Mr. Arc has stumbled upon them." he frowned,

"What do we do?" ask a rather desperate Glynda,

"We wait. We wait to see who survives this _game_." he turned back to her,

"You need to have more faith in Jaune, he's been trained for this moment."

Glynda gulped and turned her face back to the pad.

"Faith..."

"He'll survive, he's got too much to do."

* * *

The gun was now inches away from Jaune's fingertips, but the creature started to bend it's hind legs, like a spring or a cat about to pounce on it's prey. The creature opened it's mouth, rows of serrated teeth with speckled blood on them started to move closer. His finger was on the trigger,

It happened all so fast.

Next thing he knew his hand was already on the gun and the nozzle was aimed at the Grimm's head, while the Raptor was already in midair. It's hind legs raised up high and it's arms reaching out to claim his short life. This was it, live or die. Jaune did not want to die. His finger squeezed the trigger and popped two shots into the head.

CRACK CRACK!

Two shots rang through the Emerald forest that day.

Black. All Black.

Jaune's heart was still beating, but the world was black. Something was covering his body,

"I'm alive." he cried,

He pushed the heavy object, or body off of him, it was the Raptor, dead as a doornail. Two bleeding holes through the skull, he pushed one last time sending the body a couple feet away from him. He had to conceal the joy and relief he was feeling, he staggered onto his feet and grabbed his stuff.

But that's when he heard it.

_Oh. my. fuckin. god!_

Three Raptors rushed into the clearing where he was. He turned from right to left to behind as each one came screeching in. He unsheathed his sword and aimed his pistol. The Arc grit his teeth until it hurt,

"I'm not going down without a fight!"

The Raptor screeched at him unison.

An emotion called fear was slowly making it's way into his heart. This was a perilous situation, one that looked bleak to any _normal _person. But Jaune Arc was far from normal.

* * *

**AND THAT'S ALL FOLKS. CLIFFHANGER MUCH! Review and tell me what you think! AND I hope you enjoyed the new Grimm, the glory goes to a certain Deviantart user. I'll have to get his name again. But please tell me what I need to do, or just give constructive criticism. Anything's fine besides hater comments. See you next time fellow readers. Oh and people who came here to see Avengers, please be patient, they are coming soon! I've even came up with an interesting plot that will involve the RWBY crew and the Avengers. Stick around at your own leisure.**


	6. The Emerald Forest

**Years**_** long Passed...**_

He had this sinking feeling...

This feeling...

It was like...being a rat.

A rat being trapped in a dirty corner, waiting for it's evitable death. Death being a huge cat, hunched and ready to spring at the drop of a hat. No escape in sight.

He hated this feeling...

Bullies, four in all surrounding him. They were the substitution for the cat. Him, the mouse.

He had hardly any experience when it came to fighting. All he knew was to 'swing and hope for the best', a plan that rarely ever worked in _one on one_ confrontations. So how was he suppose to deal with multiple targets if he couldn't even handle one? In a blind rage he wound his arm back to strike the leader of this rag-tag group of boys, that was when he was put into a hold.

He struggled, but his efforts were for naught. The kid restraining him was strong, stronger than him. He stopped squirming for a millisecond before a hard punch co

nnected with his stomach. The air was knocked out from his body as his entire being hunched and stumbled to the floor, he whizzed and gulped down gallons of breaths that were in reality very swallow.

His bangs covered his eyes as he channeled the bubbling anger into his face. He growled,

"You'll _pay_ for that!" he hissed the words through gritted teeth.

The bully cracked his knuckles and snorted,

"We'll see about that Jauney boy."

* * *

_**In the present Future...**_

_This._

This was no different.

His shield was now in his right forearm while his left hand held his sword: Crocea. The Raptors were hissing dangerously at him as they paced around in circles; his mind already formulated a plan. Even if it was a haphazard plan, It had to work! It was either him or _them _and he'd be damned if it was them. He had too many things to do with his life, plans and dreams that he wanted to see to fruition.

_I am not going to die in this goddamn forest! _

One of the Raptors, a rather tall one with a red stripe running down from it's temple to the tip of it's tall, was rather confident in it's approach, it snapped at him. It was a little poke of the head, but it did its job in scaring the young man. He lifted his leg up quickly but put it down. The Raptors were squawking and chirping loudly to one another in strange patterns,

_Probably communicating, damn these things are smart!_

"Tch." he sucked his teeth in agitation.

This is it, now or never. The group paced a couple more times in circles, Jaune's eyes darted from one to the other. Their golden slit pupils sharp and cunning, he could hear one growl low and guttural. His spine could almost feel it's hot exhale of breath. Jaune decided that now was the right time to strike.

He raised his shield arm up moderately fast,

A screech was roared from in front of him, he still kept going. Once the arm was high enough the "Beta" Raptor as Jaune labeled the red stripe creature, raised it's talons up and lurched forward, thus prompting the others to do so as well. One big simultaneous roar echoed throughout the forest as the shield barer slammed his weapon into the ground with all his might.

_CLANG!_

A shock wave rang out from the point of impact, launching whatever object that wasn't rooted down. Rocks, grass and dirt were scattered, along with the Raptors. The beasts flew and hit the ground in their respective places, although the Beta hit a tree trunk rather hard. Jaune didn't hesitate, he got up, saw the nearest path, and blotted out of the nest.

His feet moved like the wind, never stopping, but be it ever flowing and light. The obstacles in his way were cleared with flawless jumps and leaps, his legs felt not the slightest bit heavy. Obstacle courses were an everyday thing while training with Cap. Also due to his modification his stamina was almost on the level of 'Superhuman.' He attached his shield onto the magnet on his back as he power slid under a branch, but that's when he heard it.

The screech.

"Shit." he sucked his teeth once more.

It was the Raptors, the creatures of Grimm were charging through the forest like a well-oiled machine. Ducking and hopping onto logs and branches as if it was second nature, he turned around and increased his speed.

_Those guys are going to catch up in T-minus 5 minutes...Max!_

He shakes his head and continues on. His chest is starting to get a tab bit heavy, but he ignores it. He turns around once more to confirm what he already knew and that's when his eyes dilated,

There were only two.

"Where's the other-"

He turns sharply forward and notices that a couple paces ahead of him the bushes were rattling, he started turning white.

_I've been cut off._

A Raptor jumps into his path, ready and chirping, he cursed loudly.

He had to stop, but if he did, he would die. He had to changed directions or charge on through.

He chose to charge.

He increased his speed and pulled his shield up, Jaune was now seconds away from making contact with the Grimm.

"You better move, you overgrown lizard!"

A gunshot cracked through the air. The world stops, a miserable moan is uttered out and a loud thud comes later. He stops. The Raptor is dead, a nice size smoking bullet hole in the head. He turned up towards the trees. The sound didn't come too far, it was rather close. He squinted his eyes and snapped between tree to tree,

Pyrrha Nikos was crouching on a nearby tree trunk, her weapon notched on the side of her arm. Jaune released a breath of relief. The Arc started to regain some oxygen while Pyrrha hopped down from the branch with ease.

He looked up at her and gave her a welcoming smile and exhaled once more.

"Thanks, I was in a bit of a pinch back there." he jabbed a thumb back at the dead Raptor,

Pyrrha converted her gun back into weapon form with the flick of the wrist and got into a fighting stance.

"Don't thank me yet." she exclaimed, Jaune turned back to the two Grimm that were now at least 15 meters away from them. He pulled his sword out of his sheath with a loud metallic ring, got into his respective position and nodded his head in agreement.

"You're right,"

A Raptor leaped into the air to close the gap between the two students, Jaune and Pyrrha rolled out of the way. He got back onto his feet in an instant and jumped onto the creature's back. The two wrestled for control as the Raptor desperately tried to shake it's aggressor off, but his grip was strong and with a bit of effort he placed the sword to the Grimm's throat.

The Raptor bucked to the right and then to the left, Jaune almost dropped his sword, but in a swift motion he slit the Grimm's throat.

Blood gushed out of the wound as Jaune forcibly pushed it's head into the ground. The Raptor squirmed and withered like a mad dog but once the high quantity of blood was spilled it laid dead on the grass. He got up and slashed the sword, spraying the metallic red off his weapon in one motion. He turned to Pyrrha, she rammed her spear into the creature's stomach, then sliced up, bisecting the Raptor in half.

Two bloody chucks dropped to the floor and the forest returned back to it's eerie quietness. The two students put away their weapons and stared at one another, before Pyrrha broke the silence.

"You alright?" she asked, an inkling of concern leaking into her voice. Jaune nodded,

"Never better."

"How did you cross path with the Raptors?" curious she asked, Jaune put a hand to his head in an almost confused manner and sighed,

"I ran into their nest. Shot one of them and got cornered. Talk about crappy luck."

Pyrrha frowned,

"I agree, that's pretty bad luck." he turned to her and smiled lightly. He readjusted his equipment and turned towards a new direction,

"Let's get out of here. Find somebody, and make our way to the temple." he proposed, Pyrrha nodded and followed, Jaune taking the lead.

Their scrolls beeped as their partnership was confirmed.

Jaune and Pyrrha stopped in their tracks and pulled out their devices, a picture of the two stood next to each other and under them the word "Partner" was read.

Jaune Arc looked at his partner that'll be with him for the next 3 years.

And frowned.

"Nice to meet you... partner." he gulped

* * *

Glynda watched in earnest as the partnership was sealed. She could see the cold sweat on the boy's face as he turned around and proceeded into the foliage. She turned to Ozpin, he had his pad out and watching Jaune's performance minutes ago.

"We have our next match up. Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc." Ozpin paused the video and turned on his heel towards Goodwitch. He had a wise smile on his lips,

"Indeed,"

Glynda frowned as she lowered her pad to speak directly to Ozpin, "That's a rather _ironclad _partnership if I do say so myself, Professor." He opened his eyes and tilted his head to the right a bit,

"And what makes you say that, Glynda?" an innocent question, she narrowed her gaze at him.

"You have an unknown wild card like Jaune, and you've got one of the best fighters of this Freshmen lineup. Rather overpowered don't you think?" She crossed her arms in indignation which made Ozpin chuckle, Glynda raised an eyebrow.

"I guess you can call it that. I see it as more of a balanced partnership. The two compliment each other rather well," he gestured to the forest. Goodwitch rolled her eyes, "if anything should happen though,"

She turned,

"We'll reassign them."

"Professor you hardly-"

"We'll reassign _him_, Glynda." the words came out of his mouth with dangerous finality. Goodwitch sucked her rebuttal back into her throat.

"Jaune Ac isn't foreign to the concept of partners, Ms. Goodwitch. He has an extensive history that you should research." his voice was cold, Glydna swallowed the lump of dread in her throat.

"Ye-yes sir." she initially thought that she knew everything about Jaune, but clearly there were even things she didn't know.

* * *

He had to wipe away the cold sweat that was dripping down into his eyes. Its been years since he's had a legitimate partner, a person to count on, back you up when you're in a pinch, a back to press up against when the odds were stacked against you. Those thoughts brought back detailed memories, flashes of high-fives, laughs and fist-bumps,

..._Abraham_

The scum they brought down, the criminals they put in jail. NO, no. He had to focus, pay attention to the here and now. And nothing else. Jaune raised his leg over a log and entered a small clearing where the light beamed through the canopy, it wasn't much but it was a slight change. He looked up into the sky, he sucked his teeth and turned around to Prryha, as if he was waiting for a long awaited response to come out of the red haired Spartan. She merely looked back at him and titled her head slightly, wondering what the hold-up was.

"You alright?"

He nodded, the crushing weight of a mysterious past evident of his face, but all he did was smile. A thin line for her to see,

"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, we need to find somebody."

"Agreed"

He looked forward and with a spring in his step he proceeded on, into the underbrush. He was starting to get a little agitated at this stupid challenge, asking for simple directions wasn't an option in this damn forest. He desperately wanted to find someone, anyone who had an inkling as to where they needed to go. The Emerald Forest wasn't a good place to get lost in. Imminent death around every corner, Grimm waiting to dip their hungry teeth into unsuspecting prey, this was not his way of going out.

In all honesty he wanted to go out with a bang. Not a whimper.

He was trapped in his inner ramblings before the two came across a cave. They stopped and observed the black void entrance, Jaune noticed the cravings on the wall and evaluated each one.

"This doesn't look inviting," he frowned at the craving of what seemed to be a scorpion of some kind. Something was nagging at him, he's seen something like that before, he just couldn't figure it out. He itched his chin in solid contemplation before shrugging his shoulders,

Pyrrha just crossed her arms and stared intently at the cave, she had a deep frown on her lips as she rubbed her arms fervently, Jaune chalked it up to nerves.

"I don't like this, Jaune."

A warning, how be it ever so small, Jaune acknowledged it but decided to press on. His conscience was screaming hell no, but curiosity is a bitch. Besides,

"For all we know..." he looked back at the malevolent entrance, "the ruins could be in there." He grabbed a stick and ripped some cloth he found laying around, then took two rocks and sparked them together and created a makeshift torch.

"Nothing ventured,"

He took his first step into the poignant darkness,

"nothing gained."

* * *

"I really don't think this is the place."

"Pyrrha, I made the torch, humor me for like: five more feet." he quipped,

The darkness was everywhere, its thickness unlike any-other. Without the torch, this would easily qualify as nightmare status dark. The ever present white noise of rocks and tiny critters scampering across the ground, the feeling that's somebody's behind you, the emptiness.

Yeah, Jaune wanted to get out of here ASAP.

That was until he tripped over a rock,

"Hrg!"

_SPLASH_

The world plunges into a deep dark abyss. He gets up and wipes away the grime from his armor, he sucks his teeth and sighs. This goes beyond sucking, this was utter horse shit! The hairs started to prickle on the back of Jaune's neck, luckily he wasn't the only one feeling on edge. Pyrrha's emerald irises started moving from left to right urgently,

"Do you feel that?"

"Utter soul crushing regret." he scoffed,

"No, its...warm..."

That didn't sound good at all, Jaune turned around and pointed,

"Look! A light source!" he hesitantly walks over to the levitating object and stares at it for a good minute.

"I guess...that's the relic?" Jaune shrugs his shoulders and reaches forward just for it to inch away from his hand. He lifted a confused eyebrow and reached closer, it backs away again.

"What the-" he lunges this time, it lunges back, he jumps for, and it jumps back. And with one finally leap he grabs onto the object. The _relic_ moves up and carries him suspended in mid-air, the objects starts moving backwards, towards something. Why was the object moving was up for debate, until it illuminated something.

His face turned a new shade of white.

"Uhh...Jaune..."

"No wonder why I remember that sign..."

Deathstalker

"I just have the shittest luck today huh."

Jaune Arc let out the most girlish scream he could muster. Thus adding another embarrassing page to his expanding book of "Shit Moments." An autobiography by Jaune Arc.

* * *

**At the actual location of the Ruins,**

"Some girl's in trouble!" shouted a concern Yang Xiao Long, the high pitch yell could be heard from miles away. Who ever this chick was, she had admit, she'd be great in a horror movie.

She turned towards Blake Belladona, expecting a response, be it negative or positive. Blake strained her ears for the sound, two seconds later it came back, this time in shorter intervals.

She was about to take Yang's lead and take off towards the sound, but she saw something worthwhile in the sky.

"Uh...Yang..."

* * *

This was just goddamn fantastic! Not only was Jaune screaming at the top of his lungs but he could've sworn he pissed his pants. Add that to the bucket list of embarrassing stuff he's done. His lungs were on fire from the strain of screaming like a deranged lunatic, but could you really blame him?

"Pyrrha...its...not the relic!" he childishly cried to his partner. Through the blur of movement he could see that they were outside now, and Prryha was in a stance, prepared to fight the Grimm.

"DO SOMETHING!" he wailed desperately, his throat felt like sandpaper at this point and his voice was proof of that. The jerks and pulls of the Deathstalker's stinger were starting to make his head spin, his face was turning green as well. He was never good at dealing with motion sickness.

"Jaune, whatever you do, don't-"

The stinger made a sharp flick and his entire being was hurled into the air like a football.

"GODDAAMMMNNIITTTT!"

"Let...go."

All Pyrrha Nikos could see was a small dot and a flash shine in the sky.

* * *

**Meanwhile****,**

"Did you hear that Blake? What should we do?" Yang actually noticed the slight point to the sky, she raised an eyebrow and turned,

"WATCH OUUUTTTTT!"

A girl in a red hood was screaming and hurtling down towards her. Luckily at the exact same moment and blonde blob collided with the hooded girl and they both disappeared into the tree line. Yang blinked like an confused owl and followed the blonde and red blob with her gaze,

"This is new."

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" asked a very bewildered Blake, Yang mindlessly nodded,

"Uhh...yeah...I..."

_**BADOOM**_

The girls turned to the source of the ear cracking sound and noticed a clearing open up, revealing a howling Ursa. The pained creature wallowed and stumbled forward with heavy steps until it dropped dead. On its back was a orange haired girl with white, pink, and metallic armor. She was hooping and hollering like a cowgirl at a rodeo, if that rodeo included Ursa riding as an event.

"Uahhh...its broken." as if the dangerous creature was a mere toy. A boy with sweat dripping down his face came out from behind the dead animal and started regaining some air. He had a oriental style dress with colors of green and black, gold highlights and a pink strand of hair surrounded by other identical black strands of hair.

"Nora...please...haha...don't ever do that again." his rushed words came out exasperated and strung together. He turned to see if his partner was still there, but the only thing left was her pink bubbly outline. Nora dashed to an individual pedestal and grabbed her choice of the relic pieces, all of a sudden she started to sing a lighthearted tone of victory.

_"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!"_ in her sweet(but sadistic) sing-song voice. Her charade was cut short by the boys commanding shout,

"NORA!"

She stopped and saluted animatedly back at her partner, brushing off the aggressive shout as if it was nothing. "Coming Rin." her bubbly voice was unnerving but also sweet and fun. Yang and Blake looked at the girl incredulity as she scampered off,

"Did she just ride in on an Ursa?" questioned a confused Yang,

A distance away Pyrrha was sprinting for her life, dodging and sliding under logs to further advance from the Deathstalker. She even jumped in-between the pinchers to escape certain death. She shouted up at the trees as she noticed her partner being hung upside down, her heart-rate beating faster now.

"Jaune!"

Jaune grabbed his sword and cut the branches entangling his foot. He hit the huge trunk underneath him hard but managed to jump back onto his feet. "Pyrrha!" He shouted in concern, he turned, "Ruby?!" The red-hooded scythe wielder hooped off the branch and engaged into a roll.

"Ruby?!" Yang looked shocked,

"YANG!" the sisters went for a hug,

"NORA!" sadly interrupted by...you guessed it: Nora.

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose, "Did she just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tall?"

And indeed she did, Pyrrha dodged a stinger strike by mere inches, thanks to her rigorous training she managed to evade the beast with nothing more than a scratch. And Yang literally blew up. Her yellow hair went ablaze and her eyes turn scarlet, fire erupted around her as she raged,

"I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for ten seconds before something CRAZY happens again!?" The group of five students counted down the seconds, while Yang started to breath heavily, and Ruby started pointing towards the sky.

"Sis," the group looked up,

In the air attached to the talon of a gigantic Nevermore was Weiss Schnee. Her lithe body dangling off the dangerous five foot claws, "How could you leave me!?" the poor heiress screamed out of agony and fright.

Ruby rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, "I said, JUMP!"

"She's gonna fall." deadpanned Blake,

"She'll be fine," assured Ruby,

"She's falling..." reaffirmed Rin.

Jaune saw the heiress plummeting towards the earth bellow, he initiated a quick plan to get the girl down to safety. With the bend of the knees he sprung off the trunk and reached his arms out for Weiss. The girl landed in his arms perfectly, but instead of making a quick one-liner, Jaune channeled his Aura into his legs and did what they call: Reinforcement. This ability made body parts, objects, or anything physical gain more strength due to the channeling of Aura. Its a basic Aura manipulation technique he learned from his Teacher.

He hit the ground with a loud thud and rode out the slight tremor he felt in his legs. Weiss was clutching onto his armor like a vice and pried open her eyes to see if she was dead. Baffled she looked up at her hero,

"Wu-Jaune!?" she shook her head and released her clutches from the boy. The Heiress was at a loss for words,

"Be careful next time, Weiss." was all he said before putting her down. The Heiress dusted off her combat dress and stood up to her full height and reluctantly thanked her savior.

He merely shrugged it off and blushed,

"Is fine, just...don't do anything stupid like that." The heiress could hear snickers from the group and her face turned beet red with embarrassment.

"Sh-shut up!"

Pyrrha dove in front of the group, signifying that she got away somewhat. Yang smiled and instantly entered a happy mode, "Good. Now that the gang is all here, we can die together!" came her dry response.

Jaune noticed the Nevermore in the sky and sucked his teeth. He made a silent curse and flicked his eyes back to the Deathstalker that was clamping its claws in a show of aggression. His brain started formulating tactics to subdue the Creatures, none of them success at all though. His ears heard something so he turned,

"Not if I can help it!" announced by a battle-ready Ruby Rose. Jaune's eyes dilated an inch, he reached out and shouted, but the red hooded girl was already speeding towards her doom. Yang even called out after her but didn't initiate into a run. He looked towards Weiss at that moment, something from earlier coming into his mind.

_The glyphs, her speed..._

His eyes ventured to the multi colored chambers inside her sliver rapier, and that's when he figured it out. He ran over and laid a heavy hand on an bewildered heiress who snapped out of her reverie to look up at Jaune.

"What is it Jaune!?" he looked at her with an intense stare, furrowed eyebrows and fiery eyes.

"Your weapon utilizes Dust, right? More specifically Ice?" his tone urgent,

Weiss was about to argue but the look in his eyes and the situation told her it was best not to. She shook her head, "Yes." she answered plainly. He smiled,

"Good." he grabbed his shield and started hopping into a sprint all the while turning back to shout a command.

"When I shout, use your speed and Dust! I'm going after Ruby!" he turned and dashed for his friend. Weiss acknowledge the boy with a curt nod.

He could see Ruby a couple meters ahead of her, sprinting for her dear life. He could even see the sadden look of failure and fear on her face. Jaune heard a nasty bird call from above and increased his pace, pushing his Super Solider serum to the max. He looked up and noticed that the Nevermore was whining up its wings, ready to unleash a barrage of deadly feathers. The points on those things can rip through armor effortlessly, just imagine what it could do to human flesh.

The feathers flew through the air with a whistle right along Ruby's path, he was almost there now, weaving in-between each feather mechanically, almost if he could anticipate their trajectory. He realized one was heading straight for Ruby's chest, so with a slide he moved off his original path to intercept the object. He raised his shield up and launched himself at Ruby.

The black feather bounced off his shield with a metallic ring. Reminiscent of a bullet hitting metal. He pulled the small girl close to his body and rolled into the dirt. A dust cloud picked up and he immediately opened his eyes.

_The feather hit the shield. She's in my arms. Good._

He checked over Ruby quickly, her eyes peered open.

"Jau-Jaune?"

He smiled a bit and sat themselves up, that's when he remembered.

_The Deathstalker!_

He turned and looked up at the monster. Its stinger was pulled back and it hissed at the two students. That's when he screamed,

"WEISS NOW!"

He pulled Ruby close with one arm and held his shield up to protect them. He was gambling on the strength of his weapon, but a high pitched sound flew past them as the stinger descended upon them. He grit his teeth and waited.

The reassuring sound of crackling ice came moments later. Jaune slowly drew down his shield to see if his plan worked, the Grimm's body and stinger were caught in a brilliant block of white ice. The creature struggled but to no avail.

"_YOU_ are so childish!"

"Weiss?" Ruby questioned,

"And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and oh don't get me _started_ on your fighting style!"

Jaune helped Ruby to her feet and stood silently by as the Heiress berated the scythe wielder.

"But...I suppose...I can be a bit..._difficult_," with the roll of the eyes,

Jaune snorted,

"But if we want to get through this, we have to do this together. None of this lone wolf stuff." Ruby opened her mouth to retort, but Weiss cut her off.

"So if you stop trying to show off, I'll be...nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off. I just...want you to know that I can do this!" she laminated to her partner, Weiss put her hands on her hips and leaned close to Ruby to emphasize her point,

"You're fine!"

The heiress walked away with a grin on her face and Ruby relaxed her shoulders.

Ruby sighed in relief as she clamped her hands together, "Ah...normal me." Jaune grabbed her shoulder as she got up to inspect the damage, she turned and looked up at her friend.

"Thanks for the save Jaune, I owe you one." he shrugged it off,

"Its fine Ruby. Just one thing. Lean in,"

And she did, slightly confused though, "Ok?"

He pulled his middle finger back and flicked Ruby Rose in the head.

"OW!"

He chuckled, "That's for doing something stupid."

Anime tears started leaking out of her eyes as she puffed out her cheeks like a petulant child.

"WAHHH! THAT HURT!"

Blue eyes locked onto sliver eyes.

"Don't ever do something dumb like that again! You almost gave me a heart-attack!" he berated, but he caught the faint sign of blush on her cheeks.

"Sorry, I was being too rash. I promise I won't do it again."

He smiled, "Good."

She turned and was grabbed in a air crushing hug from Yang. The older sister squeezed the small girl lovingly as she gagged for air,

"I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Yeah...real nice...let...go." she choked out,

* * *

Jaune cupped his chin in thought, he was observing the two creatures. He suspected that these thing won't go down without a fight, so what if they get the relics, these things were going to kill them regardless.

"I have a bad feeling about that Nevermore." he pointed to the winged Grimm, Weiss decided to interject,

"Look, no point in screwing around, our objective is right there in front of us. Forget about fighting those things."

"She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliff." Ruby agreed,

Jaune knew that he was in the minority when it came to this decision so he decided to keep his mouth shut and follow along. "There's no point in fighting."

He smiled at the executive decision Ruby made, _And just a couple days ago you were questioning your right to be here._ He could see it. Something Cap had taught him how to spot over the years. Its the perks of being a leader. Someone who can see clearly in the heat of battle and formulate a solution. He walked over and grabbed his piece and exchanged a look with Ruby. A look that said: "We can do this!"

Ren noticed the Deathstalker struggling in its icy prison and decided it was best to leave immediately. With Ruby and Jaune at the forefront of the group, they decided to dash towards the cliff.

All Yang could do was smile.

* * *

The area was starting to get foggy and the cliff was a couple clicks away from their current location. Jaune noticed that the Nevermore wasn't leaving at all and bit his lip, the Grimm flew over to a ruined tower and perched itself on top. It let out an ear shattering screech the rippled through the air and vibrated Jaune's eardrums. He opened his hand and swiped the air, the universal symbol for: Split up.

People spilt into twos and stuck themselves to cover like glue. Jaune regain a little bit of breath as he formulated a plan, he had no idea where to start but he needed to come up with something.

_We need a distraction!_

Out of the clearing erupted the Deathstalker, Jaune cursed, now they _have_ to move towards the Nevermore. Out of the corner of his eye he show Nora run out, he squinted, the girl jumped through a barrage of feather with ease and unleashed a pink payload of grenades at the Nevermore's face. Jaune shouted for the rest to move up as the Nevermore flew away.

_This won't last long_.

Once they made it onto the bridge with Pyrrha and Ren covering the rear Jaune started having an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He tighten his fist on his shield and turned around, that's when he saw the full on collision course the Nevermore had straight for the bridge. Before he could utter a shout the platform was annihilated. He got up quickly to see if they got separated, to his unfortunate luck they were.

"Damn, we gotta get over there! They need help! "

Nora ran up to his side and gave him a cheery smile, one that was filled with adrenaline and thrust for battle. He turned and returned one of his own,

"Think you can give me a lift?"

"Let's do it!" she laughed,

Jaune gulped, "_why do I have a feeling this isn't going to turn out well__?" _Nora flicked out her grenade launcher, hitting Jaune in the process, the weapon extended into a huge metal hammer and a sadistic grin appeared on her face. With that she ran to the edge, jumped, pulled back and slammed the edge of the bridge with all her might. Jaune's body went flying through the air as Nora literally rode on her weapon. With the pull of the trigger she went flying. Jaune oriented himself and actually stuck the landing with a roll; he then saw Nora leap over Ren and slam her hammer into the head of the Deathstalker, she even pulled the trigger for good measure.

Her body went backwards and knocked Blake Belladonna off the bridge. Jaune leaped forward and tried to catch her but he was too late. His face contorted in horror as she plummeted down into the misty abyss. That was until he saw her throw/shoot her handle into a wall and decided to swing herself to the other side of the bridge. All the while engaging the creature as it came closer to her position. And with that she stood by her team.

Jaune could only whistle, "She's good!" Before he turned back to his mess, he noticed the barrage of gunfire and Dust Ruby's team was unleashing at the Nevermore. He also took into account that none of their attacks were either connecting or affecting the creature.

_They need to hit that thing with one huge shoot._

He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "Ruby!" she turned, "You need to hit that thing with one powerful shot! One shot to kill it for good!" Ruby furrowed her brows, the creases on her face were prominent as she figured out a plan.

Jaune turned around and looked at his team. They were suppressing the enemy but they were going nowhere in terms of damage. Also the bridge beneath them was slowly collapsing,

"We gotta move!"

The group charged forward. Its either fall down and die, or, fight with a slim chance of survival and die. He unsheathed his sword and released a battle cry. Pyrrha slid under the left pincher with a slight scrape to her bronze shield. Then followed up with a slash to the face. The other pincher was raised, but was countered by Jaune's vibranium shield, and that was followed up with a jab to the arm by Pyrrha.

Ren took the advance when he grabbed onto the stinger that missed him and unloaded a magazine into the tail. Nora laid down a couple shots as the Grimm protected itself. This pushed Jaune and Pyrrha back, fortunately Pyrrha was fast enough to take the advantage and hurled her weapon at the creature's eye. Opening up a weak-spot for the team, Ren was thrown off the tail hard and he collided with a pillar; Nora called out his name in worry. Jaune looked for a way to end this fight for good.

_The dangling stinger!_

He twirled his body in the air and used the forward momentum to throw his shield at the stinger. The weapon came back perfectly and the stinger lodged itself into the Deathstalker's head. He saw another opening and turned towards Nora.

"Nail it, Nora!"

"Head's up!"

She ran towards Pyrrha who was ready to launch the girl up with her shield. The bubbly ginger hopped up onto the bronze weapon, waited for Pyrrha to bend her knees, and for an added kick, she shot off a few rounds upwards for more momentum as Pyrrha pushed her body up. At the climax of the jump she flipped and twirled as she aimed herself at the Grimm, then with one hit she connected with the stinger. This being Nora, that wasn't enough. She pulled the trigger and made sure the thing was dead.

Jaune and Pyrrha flew through the air and landed onto the ground. Immediately he ran over to Ren and checked if his comrade was okay.

"No prominent injuries, are you alright?"

Ren patted his shoulder and tried to regain his breath, his ragged breathing a clear sign of the state he was in.

"Never...haha...better." he fell forward on the ground.

* * *

Jaune's team watched in awe as Ruby and her squad were finishing up the Nevermore. His jaw dropped when he saw the huge sling shot her team made that launched her to the rocky cliff wall. He cheered when Ruby was running up the wall with the Nevermore's head under the claw of her scythe. The whole spectacle made him strangely happy, seeing the worried and confused girl he knew a couple days ago pull off a stunt like that made him smile. Thus proving her right to be in this Academy, the whole doubting yourself thing was pointless. He knew that she was ready for Beacon, he believed in her and boy did she deliver.

When she severed the head off the Grimm the entire audience went dead quiet. Everyone looking up at their savor, Jaune's eyes glowed. And the smile he had grew even larger,

"Wow."

_This world needs more people like you, Ruby Rose._

He turned towards his group and gave each of them a victorious smirk,

"Come on guys, let's get out of this godforsaken forest."

* * *

The ceremony was bustling with applause and cheer. Jaune was unnerved by the crowd of students, something about them made him uneasy, it was like they were judging them, judging their every move with a critical eye. He felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Pyrrha,

"You seem to be drifting, Jaune. Come on, cheer up!" He laughed it off and pushed his inner thoughts aside,

"Right! I should be proud of this moment! Sorry about that." he turned back to the podium,

A group of students were now on the floor, while Professor Ozpin read them their heroics.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as..." Jaune looked up at the screen and raised an eyebrow.

"Team CRDL. Lead by...Cardin Winchester." the claps grew louder as the leader was announced, Jaune could've sworn he saw a smug smile on Cardin's face.

"Punk." he whispered under his breath.

His team followed him out of the stand, the butterflies in his stomach started acting up again. He always got this way when he was awarded things.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie."

The group stood ramrod straight as he told them their results,

"The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team JNPR!"

Nora hugged Ren, the embarrassed teen struggled on where to put his hands.

"Lead by..."

_Please...don't be me!_

Somewhere in the deep recess of Jaune's heart, he feared the words that were going to come out of Ozpin's mouth. His brain already knew the answer, but some part of him wished that it could go to someone else. But knowing Ozpin,

"Jaune Arc."

He pointed a coy finger at himself, "Me?"

"Congratulations, Mr. Arc."

Pyrrha playfully punched his arm. He winced and started rubbing the spot.

"And finally... Blake Belladonna. Weiss Schnee. Ruby Rose. And Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. And from this day forward, you will together as..."

Jaune could see the look of weariness on Ruby. He knew what was coming next.

"Team Ruby. Led by...Ruby Rose."

The auditorium burst into applause as the name was announced. Jaune put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, showing off his appreciation. The claps were louder than before.

_Good, shows you how much this team means._

He sighed, "Looks like this is turning out to be an interesting year."

* * *

**Somewhere**

The photos were sprawled out onto the metallic table, the dimly lit room was filled with an eerie silence. A dark silhouette of a grown man was on the opposite side of the table. While on the other side the only thing that was visible was a metallic arm. An arm that's strangled countless indiviuals and has ended the lives of officials with the simple pull of the trigger.

"These are the students. Your mission is to simply _observe_ until further ordered, got it?"

The man with the metallic arm simply nodded. His arm reached out for a particular picture, one with a blue eyed blonde boy in his late teens. He squinted at the picture.

"And what if White Fang interferes?" his voice was gruff and scratchy. A clear sign that its been awhile since he's used his voice. The silhouette started to chuckle,

"We'll deal with them accordingly."

"And what if _she_ gets involved?" he punctuated the "she" to reinforce his point. Again the man just laughed,

"Hmm...she might pose a problem. But we have certain ways of...persuading."

The man with the strange arm grabbed the picture and slipped it into his belt, probably for further examination.

"You will study each of these targets' habits, patterns, mannerisms, everything; but be discreet. Go to the rendezvous point at 0500, you're informant will be there."

"And if things get hairy?"

The man went dead silent,

"Then eliminate everyone in your path."

"Understood."

The man pushed the chair out and turned to leave

* * *

**Back at Beacon**

"So you're the leader of Team JNPR!?" shouted his excited mother, Jaune's dad pounded his chest with manly gusto

"I knew my boy had the qualities of a leader!"

Jaune's face went abash, he started to itch his hair timidly, "Mom, Dad, stop its nothing."

"Its sure as hell not!" shouted an angered mother, Jaune winced from the volume.

"For my boy to become someone of such importance makes me proud as a mother. Even more proud than I already was, Jaune stop cutting yourself short."

All the boy could do was sigh in acceptance, "I will Mom. Where are the girls?"

"Still in school, but Amanda, she's going to call you real soon." answered Johnathan Arc. Jaune's heart swelled, he hasn't heard from his sister in what felt like ages.

"That's great. Well I have to go, lights out and all."

The two parents gave their farewells to Jaune before logging off. He closed his Scroll and released an exasperated sigh, unsettled he got up off his bed, each one of his teammates were fast asleep. He paced around the room quietly as he observed their soft, snoring features.

_Everyone looks so cute when their asleep._

He smiled, small moments like these were insignificant and fleeting; so he cherished them. Reality is harsh and cruel to weak, so he steeled his nerves and went back to his normal persona. That's when he realized,

"I am responsible for all of you."

He audibly gulped, the weight of command was ginormous. People who depended, counted, respected, you. This feeling lingered in his heart for five solid minutes.

"Do I have what it takes?"

Jaune clenched his fist, "I will not make the same mistakes. This is where I prove myself, this is where I show the world that I can become a Hero of Justice. And if I should fail...so be it."

His shoulder felt heavy so he turned, just to find no one was there. It was a gentle but heavy hand, like a father's. He touched the spot where he felt the phantom touch, he then concluded that that was somebody's way of saying: "I'm here for you." He thought back to all the people in his life and sat back onto the bed,

"Everyone, wish me luck."

And with that Jaune Arc entered a dreamless slumber.

* * *

**The next day**

Waking up is always the hardest part of the day. The feeling of the warm sheets that envelop your body is intoxicating, the comfy mattress that's helps your back, everything. Jaune groaned as his ears picked up the sound of his scroll peeping. He lifted up his head and looked for the nearest clock,

"8:30," he scratched his head and yawned, a low rumble escaped his lips as he groggily blinked his eyes. His team was up and about, talking, taking showers, and changing into the official Beacon Uniform. He grumbled, "I hate uniforms."

"Well too bad." retorted Pyrrha, Jaune started to grind his teeth, But remembering his manners he smiled at his partner, "Morning Pyrrha. I better get changed huh?"

"Yes, class starts soon; and we best not be late for our first day."

He sighed and got up off his bed. The morning lag was evident in his body, as Jaune staggered over to the bathroom the boy almost tripped over a pair of shoes. He entered the room and ditched his clothes in the blink of an eye. Showered thoroughly and brushed his teeth.

The uniform was the hardest part, something about him and ties didn't mix.

_Dad's never showed me how to tie._

He fiddled with the red tie for at least two minutes before Pyrrha marched up to him and grabbed the fabric.

"It sucks that it isn't a clip-on." he closed his eyes and shook his head, Pyrrha chuckled,

"Luckily for you, I know how to tie."

She did a loop and started to tighten the tie, moving her hands up and down. He smiled once she finished, "Thanks."

"No problem."

A shout came from outside their door, curious he called to group over to investigate the disturbance. The four of them peeked out the door and raised confused eyebrows but they started to catch on.

"We're going to be late!" shouted Weiss as she blotted down the hallway. Followed by a blabbering Ruby and the rest of her squad. Jaune gulped,

"Late?"

His entire team fell on top of him, luckily he managed to push them off and sprinted towards Team RWBY, "Guys we're going to be late! Hurry!"

Team JNPR and RWBY raced to class with little time to spare.

Ozpin just sipped his legendary coffee. While Glynda looked at her watch with a frown.

As they entered the main building the two teams scrunched themselves into the doorway of their first period. They squirmed and pushed until finally something gave out and the students stumbled out into a hot mess on the floor. Their teacher, Peter Port, a burly older gentlemen with sliver hair and eyebrows that covered his eyes. He hummed low in his chest as he inspected the damage.

"Now look who decided to drop in."

Ruby lifted up her spinning head, "Team RWBY...and JNPR...reporting for duty." and with that she face faulted to the floor.

* * *

**Finally done with this chapter. Tell what you like, what don't like, and what you want to see. Oh and Season 3 of RWBY is out guys! What're you waiting for!? Go over to RoosterTeeth and watch that shit ASAP! Also Star Wars The Force Awakens comes out in a mouth, and Marvel's phase 3 is about to start in a couple of months. Rejoice nerds! REJOICE! Even new anime is coming out, I recommend checking out OnePunch man, action super hero comedy. Good stuff,**

**Well peace out, girl scouts!**


	7. They're here No one is safe

**Beacon Academy**

He entered the arena with an scrunched up face that exuded challenge and aggression, his eyes locked onto his bulky target. Once he and his opponent were centered into the arena Jaune could see the smug grin on Cardin Winchester's face. Something he felt entitled to wipe off. He could hear the small chuckle coming out of his lips as he brought out his humongous mace to show off to the class, or to just simply unhinge his opponent. Jaune didn't budge, he merely quirked his lips into a small smirk.

"I'm going to enjoy wiping the floor with you Jauney-boy! No one's going to recognize your face after I'm done with it!" He pointed his ridiculous weapon at Jaune. The blonde let the comment slide, because instead of flapping his lips like Cardin, Jaune was evaluating his target.

_He's huge. A brute-tank. His swings will probably be heavy and loaded with power. I need speed, his mace, his weapon isn't very nimble at all. Good. That'll help me. I'll overpower him with speed and strength. Tire him out and finish him off at the end. _

"This'll be too easy." Jaune confidently declared, he cracked his knuckles and started hopping up and down, shadowboxing invisible targets. Cardin made a nasty confused face as he tried to comprehend what Jaune was saying.

"Oh really? You really think a wimp like you could take me on?" he laughed like a deranged lunatic and regain his breath, "Don't make me laugh!" Jaune literally went straight face as he raised his hand up for a question.

Glynda Goodwitch sighed and acknowledge Jaune Arc.

"Yes, Mr. Arc?" came her tired response,

"I can go all out, right?"

Glynda raised an eyebrow, "Yes. But just to clarify, once that Aura drops into the Red Zone, the match is over." A sadistic smile made its way onto Jaune's face, he's had so much pent up stress building up lately, so this'll do him just fine. And he gets to beat up the bully of Beacon Academy? Christmas came early!

"Fantastic! Thanks teach!" he turned back to his opponent and smiled,

Glynda gave a weary eyebrow to Cardin, some part of her actually pitied the boy. Some very, very small part. Jaune couldn't help smiling; and it was pissing Cardin off with every glance.

"Why the hell are you smiling like that! You should count your days, loser. Or better yet-forfeit!" he shouted, Cardin was trying to get a ruse out of Jaune and it was failing miserably. The Arc stepped forward and pointed up with his index fingers,

"I'm going to help you out this one time, Cardin," he put his sword back into his sheath and pulled out his shield. "I'm going to beat you...with only my shield." he challenged. Jaune could clearly see the vein in his forehead bulge as he grit his teeth extra hard.

"If you can defeat me, then I'll let you push me around for the rest of the year."

"You think you're all that huh? I'm going to make you wet your pants Jauney-boy!"

Glynda coughed into her small microphone, thus ending the discussion between the two students.

"If you two are done already, we would like to start." her cold chilly voice rose an octave, making Jaune gulp. "Good. Now, get into your positions."

_3...2...1...FIGHT!_

Cardin charged forward like a bull who saw red. Jaune stood there and waited for his prey, "I'm going to enjoy this!" he chuckled. Cardin was meters away from him, his arm raised to hit him dead on. Jaune twisted his back and launched up over Cardin, at the climax he hurled his shield at the back of his head. He landed in a crouch and he could feel the rumble of the ground. Cardin hit the floor.

The weapon ricocheted off a nearby wall and returned back to its owner. Jaune caught the object with the tips of his fingers. He turned, Cardin was getting up quickly,

"You really think...a wimpy throw like that is going to do a darn thing!?" he shouted in agitation, something Jaune hoped he would do.

_Good! Get agitated. It'll only help me more._

Jaune charged, he engaged into a power-slide and pushed a leg out from under Cardin. With Cardin's one knee down Jaune sprang up and grabbed the sides of his armor. He jumped up and slammed Cardin's face into the ground. He waited for a second for Glynda to call the match but his opponent got up and head-butted him square in the nose.

The impact sent Jaune off his feet. If it wasn't for his Aura his nose would've been completely shattered. Before he even had time to hit the ground his leg was grabbed and his body was sent into the opposite direction. Luckily he shook the cobwebs from his vision just in time to stick the landing. The two started breathing heavily. Jaune swiped a thumb under his nose, expecting blood to come out but nothing. He smirked,

"Not bad Cardin, you actually managed to hit me. Bravo~" he quipped, Cardin went visibly red in the face.

_Yes, get angry you overgrown freak!_

"Why yoouuu!" he ran towards him with his mace raised up to strike, Jaune sprinted towards him and at the last second changed direction around his opponent's body. Cardin swung, Jaune bent backwards and did a cartwheel. Then the brute started engaging him in broad swings, each one hitting nothing but air. Jaune was playing with Cardin, he wanted to drag out the fight and then end it with a bang. A literal bang. One overhead heavy strike missed Jaune by inches, with his weapon lodged into the ground Jaune took action. He twirled and did a jump-spin kick right into his jaw.

Speckles of spit flew out of his mouth as his body went backwards. Jaune didn't waste any time, he grabbed the edge of his shield and slammed it into his face. The blow knocked him back but it didn't take him out.

He charged forward and jabbed multiple times in Cardin's face, then he got into a stance and initiated a double palm strike. His opponent was sent off his feet, Jaune put so much force into the strike that his hands emitted smoke. Ancient Martial Arts techniques can do that to a person. Especially Martial Arts involving Aura.

He merely had to dip into his reserves and channel the flow of Aura into his hands. This sounds easy but it took months for him to learn, then even more months to apply in combat. He stepped back and breathed in deeply, the key was air control. To his dismay and excitement Cardin got up, staggering though but nonetheless up. He cursed, the gage of his Aura was low-but not too low. He was dipping into the red, Jaune could feel when his Aura was stagnating. He's had time to expand and control his Aura limitations, this was drilled into his body during training. Right now he felt he was around 85 percentile, which was good.

The huge student was starting to wobble but in seconds his equilibrium returned. "Right I forgot. You're a tank! Its going to take a lot more to bring you down." His opponent visibly growled at him, Jaune had to resist the temptation to laugh. _This was just too much fun!_

Jaune ran forward with all his speed, he wanted to end the match quickly. Cardin started to aimlessly swing at his opponent, sadly, his efforts were futile. Once Jaune got into closing distance he jumped kicked him square in the chest. The sheer power of the strike knocked Cardin out of the ring and into the audience. The display of his Aura plummeted down to almost nothing, and with the ring of the bell, the match was over.

Jaune took a short breather and turned towards Glynda; then to the crowd behind her.

He saw people with their jaws hanging low, people's faces going white, and trembling students whispering low nothings to their friends. That's when he saw the faces of his friends. Pure shock. Ruby's eyes were bulging, Weiss's too. Yang and Blake whistled, Pyrrha had a paler tone than usual, Nora was fricken clapping, and Ren had a slightly unnerved expression.

_Mission: Shocking my friends...complete._

Glynda had her mouth open a little and caught herself gaping, with a cough she shook herself and the students out of their reverie.

"It would seem that Jaune Arc has...won the match." he could hear the tiny tremble in her voice. His actions actually unsettled the cold Glynda Goodwitch; and very few students ever impress the professor. He stepped off the stage and walked over to the downed Cardin, his breathing was shallow and his head was lolling back and forth. He raised a hand out in a friendly gesture and Cardin smacked it away.

"I don't want your help." Jaune didn't care, it was only out of respect really. The mace wielder got up onto his unsteady feet and walked away with a heavy-stride, clearly his Aura wasn't catching up with his wounds. Jaune finally pulled back his hand, he examined it and furrowed his brows. He soon neglected his thoughts and walked over to his team in silence.

"What a heart-pounding match that was! Now remember students, the Vytal Tournament is just a couple months away, and before you know it the students from other schools will be arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale, so keep that in mind.

And with that the bell rang, thus ending the period. Jaune and his team didn't say a word until they exited the battle room. That's when the praise and questions started to fly,

"That match was _Awesoommeee~_" sang Nora, Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.

"More like a spectacle if you ask me."

"The power behind each strike-Jaune, who taught you how to fight like that?" asked an intrigued Pyrrha.

_You better be intrigued!_

Internally, Jaune was jumping for joy. He craved the questions and praise he was getting but on the surface he decided to act humble.

"Guys, guys, it was nothing! Come on...you would've done the same!"

A pregnant silence.

"Guys?"

Team RWBY entered the hallway. Their leader zoomed over to Jaune's side, he noticed the irritated glance on Pyrrha's face but shrugged it off.

"Jaune that was so cool! You kicked Cardin's ass like it was nothing! I didn't know you were so strong," she reached forward and playfully pinched his arm, he winced.

Her team started to join in on the praise.

"Nice match Jaune, Cardin got his ass handed to him!" cheered Yang, Jaune rubbed his hair bashfully,

"Indeed. Although, I would've handled the situation a little more...delicately, but nonetheless you did good." congratulated Weiss.

"Your technique was down right brutal. Haven't seen that before," Blake smiled as she finished her sentence.

Jaune was getting red, he couldn't handle the praise anymore. He lifted his hands up in an innocent gesture of surrender,

"Guys, it was nothing! Cardin was just an easy opponent, that's all."

"That smile of yours gave me chills." shivered Ruby,

Jaune face faulted, he wasn't going to hear the end of this for the entire week. Eventually Jaune looked up at the clock, it was lunchtime, he motioned for his group to start heading for the cafeteria. Everyone was simply chatting about classes, Nora was gushing about a reoccurring dream she's been having for the past month, Weiss was quizzing Ruby about Grimm, and Yang and Blake were talking about some new drama that came out on the web, while Jaune kept quiet.

He was feeling on edge, his senses were screaming that someone was watching him so he looked around. Students were going about their daily lives, no one even acknowledging him or his group, chatter was filling the hallways so even if he could hear his name, it would've drowned in the sea of white noise. He turned around and stared straight behind him. The group was moving without him, Pyrrha was the only one who noticed his absence.

"Jaune?"

His head jolted at the sound of his name, Pyrrha had a heavy look of concern. "Everything alright?"

He simply nodded and continued on.

* * *

_He almost spotted me. His senses are sharp. Must stay ever vigilant._

* * *

Jaune entered the cafeteria calmer than before. Now that his senses were finally at ease, he was able to enjoy lunch.

"Yes...today's spaghetti Tuesday!" he grabbed the nearest tray with a mountain of meatballs and pasta. He was convinced that the meatballs here were to die for. He thanked the lunch lady with a friendly smile,

"Your looking wonderful as ever, Mrs. Pinewood." he greeted in a sickly sweet tone, the lady blushed. Mrs. Pinewood was an elderly lady in her mid 60s. Her hair was snowy white and her figure was...rather large to say the least. She had a brown mole under lip with a single strand of hair protruding out. Jaune sucked up to this woman ever since day one, because if by chance she's having a good day, she'll give out extra food.

And today was one of those days, "Uaaa...why, ain't you the gentlemen. Here's some extra grub for you, sweetheart." She took her utensil and dropped another serving onto Jaune's tray.

"Thank you very much. You have a nice day now!"

"You too, young man!"

He left with a smile on his face as he stared down at his spectacular food. The aroma of pasta and meat was entering his nose and he suddenly remembered that he was starving. He had to force himself not to salivate, Ruby and Yang pulled up beside Jaune and eyeballed his plate like vultures.

"How in the world did you sweet talk that old lady into giving you more food!?" asked Ruby, "I've tried to use my adorable sweetness and it doesn't work!" Jaune ignored her and pulled his plate away from her hungry gaze. Yang was leaning in too close for comfort,

"Seriously, she like, never gives seconds," countered Yang,

Jaune chuckled and confidently bellowed to the girls, "Ladies, ladies, clearly Mrs. Pinewood likes a man who's got confidence. I mean come on, who can possibly resist these charms?" he jabbed a finger at his chest and raised his head up a fraction higher, his tone pompous and cocky.

"OOOhhhh..." the two girls nodded their heads in unison. Weiss rolled her eyes and muttered obnoxiously, "Oh please. Like anyone's gonna fall for that lame act." Jaune snorted, "It seemed to work out on you." Weiss's eyebrow twitched,

"Yeah right! That was just a mistake, a lucky shot. Nothing else!" she puffed out her chest and walked faster than usual. Jaune could only smirk at Weiss' back, he knew what really got her heart trembling. It was honesty. If you were honest around her, her icy exterior melts. Although Jaune is still is trying to figure her out, nonetheless he liked making Weiss mad. Her adorable reactions made his heart tingle and it showed the world who the real Weiss Schnee was, not the infamous Ice Queen every makes her out to be.

"Jaune you have a real strange way of trying to understand Weiss." commented Yang, Ruby grabbed a nearby fork and was slowly inching for a meatball. Jaune instinctively put a hand up to stop her.

"I like seeing her face turn red. Call me weird, but her reactions just make me smile."

Ruby agreed, "You should've seen her when me and Yang finally convinced her to go shopping." Jaune ignored the comment and blocked the image of a panty-clad Weiss trying on a new pair of underwear.

At the table Jaune started devouring his food, as if this would be the last meal he'd ever eat in his life. Ruby just watched in amazement while Pyrrha looked at him with a face of disapproval. He sucked in the spaghetti string and popped a meatball in his mouth. The juices in the meat made his taste buds scream in joy, tears almost made their way out of his eyes but he steeled his nerves and called them back.

He finished his plate before anyone else did, especially Nora; and that was an accomplishment, knowing full well that she possessed a bottomless pit of a stomach. He put his fork down and contained a burp in his mouth. He released a hot steamy breath and relaxed.

He laid back and listened to one of Nora's ridiculous tales,

"There we were, surrounded by Ursai..." her voice was super suspenseful and low, Ren rolled his eyes and looked at Nora with a perplexed look.

"Last week you told me it was a pack of Beowolves..."

"The creatures circled around our position and were ready to pounce. Ren and I engaged the foul beast in mortal combat!" she put her fist up in a mock fighting stance and propped one leg onto the table. Yang was engrossed in the story, while Blake was reading a rather scandalous book and Weiss was filing her nails. Ruby was enjoying her lunch at a brisk pace and Pyrrha was gazing ever so often at Jaune.

The Arc was staring at his hands,

He was reminiscing about all the things he's down up until this moment. The forest, his background, training, everything was coming up millhouse. He's shot, punched, arrested and killed people with these hands. And it almost terrified him, but he accepted his sins with a clench of the fist. His eyes traveled to the gray table and he just stared;blocking out all the white nose and mediated with his eyes open.

That was until he heard the sound of someone shouting.

"Come on, let go!" in a strange accent he hasn't heard in awhile. He turned, Cardin and his excuse for a team was picking on a Faunus girl. She had long bunny ears and for some reason vibrated a cord in Jaune's brain. It was like he remembered her from somewhere,

"God what a jerk." insulted Pyrrha, "How can anyone be so inconsiderate." Jaune stayed silent.

"See, people like that are the reason Faunus do crazy things." interjected Blake,

Jaune caught on to the small statement with a fierce look. Instinctively his body moved off the chair,

"Hey where you going?" Ruby reached out,

"Jaune?" asked Pyrrha,

He ignored them and focused on the girl. He made a beeline for the other side of the cafeteria and locked his face in an intense scowl. Once he made his way over there he coughed to get everyone's attention. Cardin looked up at him with disgusting frown while his boys started moving around the table slowly. Jaune saw this and kept note, he wasn't planning on fighting. But if push came to shove, he _would_ do it.

"What do you want Jauney-boy?" he spat, Jaune resisted the urge spit an insult right back at him but he decided to be the respectful.

"Oh nothing just wanted to grab my friend over here." he reached forward and lightly grabbed the Faunus girl's wrist. She didn't struggle and got up as he prepared to leave. Jaune turned and left the horrible situation,

"Good. We were just about done playing with the freak." he venomously declared. Jaune steeled his nerves and unclenched the fist he didn't realize he had.

"I'll see you around, Cardin." he spat the words out with disdain and blotted to his table.

His mind was heavy and clouded with malicious thoughts, so he started to inhale slowly, maintaining a steady heartbeat. He didn't even realize he was holding the girl's hand until he felt a weak tug from his arm. He turned and finally made eye contact with the girl he saved; and she was blushing. Really bad too. Her pale complexion was radiating a pink hue and she was dipping her head down in embarrassment. Jaune realized the reason why with a quick look at their hands and instantly let go.

"Ahh...Sorry about that." he apologized,

She silently nodded, Jaune had a feeling he wasn't going to get far in the department of conversation and decided to talk.

"Hey those guys are serious jerks. You got anyone else to sit with?"

She looked at around frightened, and to her disappointment she looked back at him and frowned.

"Not really."

Jaune smiled lightly, something that seemed to shock the girl.

"Well until then, you can sit with me. You got a name?"

"It's Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."

The name bounced around in his brain, he could've sworn he's heard the name before but he couldn't figure it out where he heard it before.

"Nice to meet you Velvet, I'm Jau-

"Jaune Arc."

He furrowed his brows in confusion,

"How did-"

"We've met a long time ago. We were young and went to the same school. You helped me."

The scene at the school plays back like a movie in his mind. He remembers the boy, he remembers the cute girl, he remembered the pain. And his entire demeanor changed. He relaxed his muscles and opened his mouth happily and motioned for Velvet to take a sit.

"I remember you now. Yeah, you were that girl I helped. You gave me a Band-Aid." Jaune said in a sincere tone. Velvet had a gentle but somewhat forced smile on her face as the two sat down next to each other.

"How have you've been Velvet?" Velvet could hear the concern in his voice and decided to take a chance.

"Fine...I've been fine." her voice was trembling a little bit but he laid a hand on her shoulder, which visibly relaxed her.

"That's good to hear."

Jaune looked up and noticed the many eyes staring back at him with disbelief, or confusion. He opened his mouth and mouthed a "What?" Ruby shook her head and reached a hand out to the Velvet.

"Hi, I'm Ruby Rose." her voice was gentle and inviting, Velvet looked at the hand and the owner's face. She hesitantly reached out and grabbed the small hand, Jaune could see the courage it took to raise that hand, the hope in Velvet's eyes. There was a unique shine in them, one that was warm. His lips curved into a small smile as he saw the entire table greet the girl.

Lunch ended before he knew it and the group headed off to Professor Oobleck's classroom.

"I'll see you around Velvet." he made a small wave to her as she went down the opposite hallway. She turned and returned a smile,

"Alright, see you Jaune."

* * *

After a quick homework session with the team Jaune excused himself from the group and headed for the training arena. He strapped on some armor and grabbed his sword and shield. He engaged in a brisk pace to the arena with little to no trouble. Once he entered the expansive room he set the program to it's highest difficulty, only the seniors could handle this level of intensity but there are always exception to the rule.

A multitude of robots about his height and above started to elevate from the ground, surrounding his position. Some of the droids were carrying spears, swords, guns, anything that could inflict harm to the human flesh; some even deemed it appropriate to go in bare handed. The droids got into stances as the timer ticked down at an snails pace, Jaune grabbed his sword and got into his own respective stance as well. In inhaled...then exhaled. The buzzer went off and the world returned to it's normal speed.

Each robot dashed for him at alarming speed. He unsheathed his sword and sprinted for the nearest victim. A grin made its way onto his lips when he remembered a key fact about this little training stimulation.

They were robots. Not students.

He could destroy them with no remorse.

The first robot was executed with deadly precision. He slashed the stomach, turned around in one swift movement and jabbed the sword right into the neck. A sickly sparking sound emanated from the machine as it fell. He sensed an attack from behind, he steps back, blocks, grabs the robots arm forward. He used the momentum and flipped the robot over, using his strength and destroyed the head with a quick curb stomp. The droid fizzled and sparked as his boot crushed the metal. He turned around and blocked another attack, he threw a swift punch to stun the robot, Jaune slashed until the machine ceased functioning.

He flipped over an unsuspecting robot and snapped his shield into its circular form. He stunned his enemy with a shield bash. The robot staggered back, Jaune sliced the legs, and with the robot on it's knees he decapitated it.

He sidestepped a jab from an electrified spear, slipped behind the robot and rolled across the spine and finished with a stab through the chest, finishing off another obstacle. Two robots raised their weapons to strike but with flick of the wrist he hurled his shield at the two droids.

The golden weapon ricocheted off each target and returned to him just in time to block a few heavy blows from a unarmed robot. His shield took the blows as it was built to do. Noticing the other two were closing in on him, Jaune swiped the robot off it's legs with a low kick, then grabbed the arm and hurled the body at the approaching enemies.

He ran forward into a power-slide which tripped over a rather dimwitted robot. He hopped to his feet, with the speed that almost matched a bullet, he snapped off the head with his hands.

A glaring slash missed Jaune by mere inches, thankfully his reflexes were sharp, Jaune kicked the robot in the chest and delivered heavy punches to the face. He grabbed a counter and flipped the robot over. Jaune took his sword and drove the blade through the chest. The robot recoiled before the lights in it's eyes dimmed to black.

A stinging pain hit his arm before his mind was able to process it.

The muscle in his arm contracted and tightened up in a blink of an eye. He followed the shot back to a sniper; the robot was being protected by two others who were armored with swords.

He furrowed his brow and sprinted towards the aggressor. He dodged countless attacks before flipping over the gunner. Without looking he stabbed the robot in back, then he hurled his weapon at the nearest target. The blade pierced the metal and came out the back with a sickening crush.

If any random student decided to watch Jaune practice, they would've felt a cold shiver run down their spine. Jaune held nothing back, he _killed _with no mercy or hesitation. They would've swallowed the lump in their throat and kept on walking.

Besides Cardin and his team.

They watched with anger, and frustrated faces before Cardin took two fingers and pointed towards the door. Signaling his group to move into the training arena. They spat on the ground and readied their weapons.

Jaune was in the middle of a counter before the robot deactivated. Confused he stepped back and watched as the droids went back into the floor. He turned around in circles and noticed that the program was turned off, before he could utter a word he heard a deep laugh.

"Look what the Beowolf dragged in!" Jaune slowly turned around and saw Cardin and his pathetic group chuckling to themselves with cocky grins. He grimaced and clicked his tongue,

"What do you want Cardin? Don't you see I'm sparring!" he shouted in an agitated tone.

Cardin's eyebrow twitched, which Jaune relished in. With a sharp signal with his head, Cardin's team started to circle his position. They were planning to attack him as a team. Jaune grabbed his sword and yanked it from the body of a deceased robot, the blade making a metallic clang that made one of Cardin's teammates sweat.

"You know..." he starts pacing, "the cameras around here are off around this time. Nobody knows what's going on in here as we speak, and I didn't see a single student pass by this area. The perfect time to kick someone's ass." Cardin chuckled menacingly,

Jaune wasn't having it. He pointed his blade at Cardin and moved into a stance, "I'm done playing around with you, Cardin! If you want to fight...then do it like a man and fight me!"

That blow to his pride snapped any patience Cardin had left, the hulking boy charged at him with an intent to harm, maybe _kill_. Jaune charged at him head-on, but he switched his direction and threw his shield at the nearest kid: Sky Lark.

Poor kid.

The sere power behind the throw knocked the boy off his feet and sent him flying a couple meters back. The shield bounced off a nearby wall at collided with the back of Dove Bronzewing's head, stunning the boy from attacking. In one swift motion Jaune had the shield in his hand and leaped for Cardin. Cardin accepted the challenge head-on and jumped up as well, with his mace raised he slammed the weapon into Jaune's shield. The boy plummeted down to the ground but managed to use the shield to take the force of the impact.

His arm felt sore. Which was a rare thing. But the power behind that strike could've broken a bone, at least two. He winced and hissed through his teeth, staggering he hopped back onto his feet and shifted into his stance, a habit drilled into his body from the beginning. Russel Thrush charged in and unleashed a flurry of swift attacks that Jaune managed to dodge. He blocked a slow jab with a little swivel of the head, without any hesitation he rammed a knee into his stomach, stepped back with his backleg and doubled punched Russel into the air.

Jaune could see the speckle of spit leave the boy's gaping orifice as he soared through the air. He wasted no time as an heavy, but fast swing came from behind his back. He ducked and cartwheeled away from the attacker. Once he determined that he was at a safe distance he stopped and slipped into a fighting stance. He locked eyes with Cardin and relaxed his muscles.

Cardin patted the mace's blunt end in his hand and grimaced, with growl that emanated from within he charged. Jaune waited for the last minute and jump-grappled his opponent with his legs and twisted him over. With Cardin on the floor he scrambled and wrapped his legs in a suffocating constrictor hold around his neck.

He squeezed, and squeezed, his intention: knockout. Tighten. Hold. Silence. He wanted to feel Cardin's muscles relax and fall limp.

The doors swung open with a deafening bang, and at the entrance the students could hear the high heels of a certain professor click across the floor. The staccato taps were an indication that who ever it was, was not happy at all. Jaune instinctively relaxed and unwrapped his limbs around Cardin's neck, jumped up to his feet as soon as he heard her voice.

"What in the world is going here!" Glynda Goodwitch shouted at the top of her lungs. Jaune regained his breath as he made himself look scarce, he looked to his left and saw the groaning students lifting their bruised bodies up off the floor. Cardin's face started to return back to its normal color instead of the red flush he had earlier. Glynda crosses her arms with an impatient motion, and started tapping her right shoe rapidly. Her voice was cold and furious, Jaune stared right back at her with fire and anger. He wasn't winning the fight though, once team CRDL managed to stabilize itself Glynda decided to speak.

"We, are handling this in my office, right now! We've already attracted too much attention." she made a sharp turn and marched out. Cardin sucked his teeth and started walking behind the professor. Jaune wanted to be last out so he waited until everyone else walked out the door before he followed. On the other side of the door he noticed RWBY and the remaining members of JNPR looking at them with growing curiosity. He stared back at them furrowed his brows, Ruby motioned with her face and arms, she wanted to know what happened.

He merely cracked his neck.

Ruby caught the hint.

The group walked through the hallways in silence, Jaune shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the gray walls. Students whispered and gossiped as they watched the prisoners walked off to their cells. More like death row. Once the they made it to her office, Glynda held the door for the students, Jaune went in first and exchange a heavy glance with the Professor.

"I want to know what happened," she stated,

He entered.

Once everyone was present, Glynda started her discussion. Jaune toke a seat right in front of her desk, he could feel the fabric shift under his weight as he sank into the chair. Cardin took a seat adjacent to his, the two leaders at the forefront of the punishment. Glynda sat behind her desk and intertwined her fingers, planted her elbows on the wooden surface, and leaned in.

"Now explain to me, why do I have to see a fight so early in year, gentlemen?" she asked,

Jaune turned his face to the side and decided to look at a random book, he didn't want to face Goodwitch, neither did Cardin. He noticed an eyebrow twitch on the Professor's eyes. She sighed,

"Tell me what happened, start from the beginning and tell the truth." she reinforced the last bit, Jaune coughed, and this grabbed Glynda's attention.

"We'll start with you, Mr. Arc,"

Jaune finally locked eyes with Glynda,

"I used my free period to train," he said with a low tone, "I made my way to the simulation arena and made all the necessary adjustments. Then I started the program and went along with my merryself...until this hunk of meat lumbered into the arena." he jabbed a thumb to his left,

"What did you say!?" shouted Cardin,

"Enough!" Glynda demanded, everyone shut their mouths. "Continue please. This time keep the unnecessary comments to yourself," He nodded,

"Cardin and his team wanted to pick a fight with me. I warned them that if that kept on threatening me, that I would fight them." he looked at his hands,

"And?" she asked,

"He decided to fight, thinking that jumping me was the right thing to do. I defended myself and subdued his team." he stated with a matter of fact voice. Cardin merely sucked his teeth and laid his head on his fist. Once the story was over Glynda ingested a deep breath of air, she absorbed the information and slowly turned her head to the boys standing behind Cardin's chair,

"Do any of you need to go to the Doctor?" she politely asked,

The boys stopped rubbing their arms and hands and nodded in agreement, three members of the team took the opportunity and left to go to the Doctor's office. Or to simply leave the room. Cardin gave them a glance but said nothing.

The teacher's Scroll started to ring, it looked urgent, from what Jaune could gather. Glynda grabbed and slid her finger across the screen to access her phone. She lifted up a finger and whispered "One minute" and turned her chair around.

Glynda made a few slow nods as she exchanged words with whoever was on the other side of the phone, she soon concluded the call with a "I understand." and put the Scroll down. She turned and grabbed both their attentions once more.

"Fighting is a level 4 offensive and could be punished by expulsion. You two know this, right?" she asked in low tone, they nodded their hands no. She turned her lips into a frown, "This is what I'm going to do. Cardin, your team will under house arrest for the next two weeks. No leaving campus, no training, not even team drills."

Cardin opened his mouth to retort, "But Profes-"

"I don't want to hear it. And Jaune," He turned to face her,

"You'll be reporting to my office for the next two weeks and assist with me whatever I see fit." her eyes were emerald daggers, Jaune swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Yes, ma'am."

Cardin was not happy with the end result, "Professor, this isn't fair at all!" Glynda glared at him dangerously,

"I don't want to hear it, Winchester! For all I know-you should be expelled! So don't give me a reason to, understood?! I'm letting you off easy!"

Cardin let out a defeated breath and slumped back into his chair. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now that we understand each other, leave my office...now."

The two stood up abruptly, Cardin first followed by Jaune. They walked to the door in silence before Jaune heard his name. He turned,

"Yes?"

"Ozpin wants to see you in the tower."

"I'll go there now."

"And Jaune," he stopped,

Glynda put a finger to her temple and sighed deeply, Jaune looked at the floor solemnly.

"Don't..." she pauses, "Don't misuse you powers like this. Petty fighting, picking fights, it's not...it's not like you."

Jaune slowly moves his head up to lock eyes with his professor. He frowns, "Ms. Goodwitch, I'm sorry but, I'm not gonna let someone like him push me around. I'm sorry, but I'm not! I-

"But Jaune-"

"I don't like bullies! I don't care who they are," he mutters quietly, Glynda blinks twice before a tight smile appeared on her lips.

"Hmm, I know, I know. Just...stay out of trouble Jaune, please?" she quietly asks,

He forces a smile and nods his head, "I will."

"Get to the Tower, Ozpin needs you."

He turns and exits the room.

* * *

The elevator ride up to the top of Ozpin's tower was rather nerve-racking for Jaune, his back was building up a cold sweat and his palms were starting to become rather clammy. He rubbed his hands together and took in a deep breath. He was scrambling for a reason why the headmaster of Beacon would call him up to his office. "I've been getting famous lately" he chuckled, when a ding signifying his arrival, he exited the elevator. When he turned he could see Ozpin talking to someone, the man leaned back as soon as he heard his footsteps,

"Steve?" he muttered, Steve looked back at him and smiled, it was warm, welcoming and Jaune liked it. Steve moved a couple steps forward and placed his hands on his hips, Jaune noticed that he was out of his Huntsmen armor and was wearing civilian clothing. He looked almost uncomfortable and tight,

"Hey Jaune," he replied, Jaune walked up to his mentor and opened his arms and hugged him. Steve was a friend, a teacher, part of the family, so he didn't care if it didn't look professional. Steve returned the hug in kind. "How have you been?" they pulled back, Jaune started to scratch his hair timidly,

"So far I've been doing all right. My team's coming along just fine and I've been _trying_ to stay out of trouble. The key word in there is "trying", by the way." Steve laughed for a moment and his face almost snapped into a grim expression, but he managed to slowly pull his lips back into a thin line.

"What're you doing here? Last time I saw you, you were on another mission. Ironwood sounded rather desperate." he started eyeing the floor in contemplation, Steve clicked his tongue,

"I still am," he replied, "I'm here merely to talk to Ozpin and inform him about the current situation, but then I decided to include you in on it as well." Jaune looked at him confused but also intrigued. "We've been busy, Jaune. Very busy." Steve started to pace in long strides across the room.

"Yes, indeed. The current situation has warrant my attention," said Ozpin. Jaune really wanted to know now, it was starting to set him on edge.

"What is it, Steve?" he asked with a long pause. Steve looked at him for a long time and started to hiss.

"They're here." he said, Jaune furrowed his brows. "They're here, Jaune." He still couldn't figure out who.

"HYDRA." Ozpin muttered the words to them. Jaune's blood ran cold, the hairs on his arms stood up and his back started to build up a film of sweat. He looked at Steve with a pleading gaze. Every fiber of his being wanted this information to be false. But if Steve is telling the truth, then...

"They're here, in Vale Jaune." finished Steve. Jaune took a breath and looked at the floor, hopping to find an answer in the rug. He sighed and looked up at his mentor with disbelief,

"This...this can't be right." he whispered, Steve closed his eyes and nodded.

"I wish it was, but it's true." Jaune started to feel a bubbling anger and a sensation of fear build up within him.

"I thought they were gone, I thought they disbanded," he started to pace as he raised his voice, "I thought they were DEAD!" he yelled, Steve reached out for him a placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune, calm down. It's alright, just..." Jaune relaxed and closed his eyes. How, after all these years? How and why are those killers showing their faces around here again? He sucked in a large intake of air and looked up at his teacher deeply.

"I know, I know. Deep breaths..." he looked at Ozpin, "How come no one's gone after them?" he glanced at the computer. Ozpin pushed his glasses back onto his nose and cleared his throat. The Headmaster got up from his chair and walked around his desk, the gears in the walls went about their mundane turning as Ozpin looked into Jaune's eyes.

"We have, but every time we've captured one, they'd pop a cyanide pill and die with the information they know." he fixes his cuff links and raises a finger, "So we have very little information about their operations."

"But we do know that Hydra, now has assimilated the White Fang." continued Steve, Jaune started to rock his head in agreement but furrowed his brows,

"What would Hydra want with the White Fang?" Jaune asked. Steve rubbed the back of his neck and grabbed a dossier folder off of Ozpin's desk.

"My guess is: they share similar goals." Steve replied, he rifled through the papers,

"But last time I checked, their leader wasn't keen on the idea of working with humans." concluded Jaune. Ozpin hummed to himself as he moved to the window overlooking the campus. He clasped his hands behind his back, his body exuding a experienced warrior's mindset.

"For the moment," he turned, "For the moment, the White Fang and Hydra share similar goals. Things like this happen all the time between kingdoms and factions." he started to lecture, "A temporary alliance,"

"Or permanent" added Steve,

"Possibly. Whatever it is, their numbers are increasing at an exponential rate." his voice sounded strained and stressed, "Ironwood is growing paranoid by the second, and I don't blame him. I more or less had to beg him to continue the Vytal Festival this year." Jaune looked up as he heard the statement,

"Why?" Ozpin repressed a sigh,

"We need to keep this long lasting peace, if any word of war breaks out to kingdoms, they'll be mass hysteria. That's why I managed to convince James to keep this under-wraps and try to handle Hydra from the shadows." Ozpin finished with a convincing voice. Jaune shook his in head mild agitation and confusion. This whole thing was literally a news cast away from blowing up the world, and the only people keeping it so were the men and women sworn to protect it.

"All it takes is for one attack, one single attack and this whole thing could blow up in everyone's faces. And the Vytal Tournament is an ideal target- Professor, don't see, this is what they wanted!" Jaune almost jumped from his chair and shouted. Steve looked to Ozpin and waited for an answer because he said to same thing to him a couple hours before. Ozpin reached out and calmly talked down to his student,

"And I know that, that's why we've made every possible precaution in case of an attack! Look, Jaune, we need to keep this peace for a long as we can! If we come forward with this, if we go public...every student in Beacon will have to go to _war_." his voice had a dangerous edge to it that dared Jaune to argue, but he didn't, he thought of the bloodshed and loss that would happen if they went to war now. He imagined the lifeless body of Ruby in his arms as the war raged on in the background. He thought of Signal. He didn't want it to come to that, he wasn't ready for a war. No one was.

_None of us are ready._

"We're just kids!" he cried, Ozpin walked closer to him and hummed,

"So you see why we're trying our hardest to handle this situation discreetly."

Jaune regained his composure and found a drive within him, he wanted to stop Hydra, at any means necessary, but he wanted to handle it by himself. He couldn't afford dragging his friends into this. He looked into Ozpin's eyes with newfound determination, "What can I do, Professor?" Ozpin opened his mouth to say something but Steve beat him to the punch,

"We...actually want you to stay out of this one, Jaune." his snapped his head to his teacher with wide eyes. He couldn't believe he was hearing this.

"Then what-what was the point of telling me this! I want to help!" he shouted, Steve closed his eyes and stepped forward to stop him,

"And I understand, Jaune. That's why me and Ozpin want you to simply play reconnaissance for the time being." Jaune scoffed and snorted indignantly, "Just...make sure nothing out the ordinary is happening at Beacon, report anything you find to us."

"But at least let me fight, let me take the fight to them- Steve, Let. Me. HELP!" he begged his mentor as the two shared an intense gaze. Steve took a long pause and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. With a low "Shit!" he looked at Jaune again,

"No. And that is final, this is larger than you think. And I don't want to see you hurt, Jaune, or worse, dead."

Jaune looked away from his mentor with anger as he sucked teeth with finality. He wasn't going to get anything more out from his teacher, so he accepted what he got. "I'll keep a look out." he muttered quietly, begrudgingly accepting the role of recon. Ozpin walked over to him a laid a hand on his shoulder,

"Then you are dismissed, Mr. Arc. Be careful out there." he said, Jaune nodded and turned sharply to the elevator. He marched quietly to the lift and hit the button for the bottom floor. The door closing slowly as he took in the sight of the sullen faces watching him.

* * *

The two adults released heavy sighs as the boy finally left the room, Ozpin took his seat behind his desk as Steve closed the folder slowly. Ozpin looked at the agent and raised an eyebrow, he noticed the thoughtful look Steve was giving the elevator doors.

"You sure keeping him out like that is wise?"

"I don't want to see Jaune dead, Ozpin."

"The boy can handle himself, Rogers. You know he won't give up easily?"

"I know," he sighed "Its just...not yet...there's something I have to confirm first."

Ozpin raised his eyebrow even higher, "This is going to escalate rather quickly."

"I hope not."

* * *

Jaune resisted the urge to punch the to elevator doors, he was brimming with anger. How could Steve just sideline him like that? This threat not only affects Vale, but every kingdom in the world, and he wants him to go on recon! This is ridiculous! He is more than capable of handling Hydra! He's done so before! What makes now any different? This was when he started to question Steve, "He's not telling me something." he concluded, "I'll need to get some answers on my own, but I'm going to need help from some people."

Jaune really didn't want to go to his team with this, he believed it would get worse if they were involved. He wanted a partner, one person, a person who could keep a secret. A person who was experienced in sneaking around.

"Blake..." he realized, next he needed to go to someone who held information. He rummaged through his mind and thought of an information broker he once knew, "Axial," all he needed now was a date to head out. Jaune was thinking about a Friday, in the dead of night, all he had do is convince Blake to come. "That'll be tricky."

Jaune needed answers... and was going to get them, one way or another.

* * *

**Sorry for the league of absence, readers. I've been getting lazy with my writing, school and work have been taking up so much time! Oh, and a quick update, if any of you guys been reading my old stories, I'll be revisiting them soon, hell I might even need things as well. One-shots and such, but I really need support from you guys. REVIEW. MESSAGE. All these things give me the energy and drive to write more. To actually know that someone is reading my work reenergizes me to do more. So enjoy and have a nice day! **


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